15 research outputs found
Sustaining high-solar-activity research
Research efforts that require observations of high solar activity, such as
multiwavelength studies of large solar flares and CMEs, must contend with the
11-year solar cycle to a degree unparalleled by other segments of heliophysics.
While the "fallow" years around each solar minimum can be a great time frame to
build the next major solar observatory, the corresponding funding opportunity
and any preceding technology developments would need to be strategically timed.
Even then, it can be challenging for scientists on soft money to continue
ongoing research efforts instead of switching to other, more consistent topics.
The maximum of solar cycle 25 is particularly concerning due to the lack of a
US-led major mission targeting high solar activity, which could result in
significant attrition of expertise in the field. We recommend the development
of a strategic program of missions and analysis that ensures optimal science
return for each solar maximum while sustaining the research community between
maxima.Comment: White paper submitted to the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space
Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033; 4 pages, 1 figur
Next-Generation Comprehensive Data-Driven Models of Solar Eruptive Events
Solar flares and coronal mass ejections are interrelated phenomena that
together are known as solar eruptive events. These are the main drivers of
space weather and understanding their origins is a primary goal of
Heliophysics. In this white paper, we advocate for the allocation of sufficient
resources to bring together experts in observations and modeling to construct
and test next generation data-driven models of solar eruptive events. We
identify the key components necessary for constructing comprehensive end-to-end
models including global scale 3D MHD resolving magnetic field evolution and
reconnection, small scale simulations of particle acceleration in reconnection
exhausts, kinetic scale transport of flare-accelerated particles into the lower
solar atmosphere, and the radiative and hydrodynamics responses of the solar
atmosphere to flare heating. Using this modeling framework, long-standing
questions regarding how solar eruptive events release energy, accelerate
particles, and heat plasma can be explored.
To address open questions in solar flare physics, we recommend that NASA and
NSF provide sufficient research and analysis funds to bring together a large
body of researchers and numerical tools to tackle the end-to-end modeling
framework that we outline. Current dedicated theory and modeling funding
programs are relatively small scale and infrequent; funding agencies must
recognize that modern space physics demands the use of both observations and
modeling to make rapid progress.Comment: White paper submitted to the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space
Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033; 9 pages, 4 figure
Magnetic Energy Powers the Corona: How We Can Understand its 3D Storage & Release
The coronal magnetic field is the prime driver behind many as-yet unsolved
mysteries: solar eruptions, coronal heating, and the solar wind, to name a few.
It is, however, still poorly observed and understood. We highlight key
questions related to magnetic energy storage, release, and transport in the
solar corona, and their relationship to these important problems. We advocate
for new and multi-point co-optimized measurements, sensitive to magnetic field
and other plasma parameters, spanning from optical to -ray wavelengths,
to bring closure to these long-standing and fundamental questions. We discuss
how our approach can fully describe the 3D magnetic field, embedded plasma,
particle energization, and their joint evolution to achieve these objectives.Comment: White paper submitted to the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space
Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033; 16 pages, 3 figure
COMPLETE: A flagship mission for complete understanding of 3D coronal magnetic energy release
COMPLETE is a flagship mission concept combining broadband spectroscopic
imaging and comprehensive magnetography from multiple viewpoints around the Sun
to enable tomographic reconstruction of 3D coronal magnetic fields and
associated dynamic plasma properties, which provide direct diagnostics of
energy release. COMPLETE re-imagines the paradigm for solar remote-sensing
observations through purposefully co-optimized detectors distributed on
multiple spacecraft that operate as a single observatory, linked by a
comprehensive data/model assimilation strategy to unify individual observations
into a single physical framework. We describe COMPLETE's science goals,
instruments, and mission implementation. With targeted investment by NASA,
COMPLETE is feasible for launch in 2032 to observe around the maximum of Solar
Cycle 26.Comment: White paper submitted to the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space
Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033; 10 pages, 6 figures, 1 tabl
Improving Multi-Dimensional Data Formats, Access, and Assimilation Tools for the Twenty-First Century
Heliophysics image data largely relies on a forty-year-old ecosystem built on
the venerable Flexible Image Transport System (FITS) data standard. While many
in situ measurements use newer standards, they are difficult to integrate with
multiple data streams required to develop global understanding. Additionally,
most data users still engage with data in much the same way as they did decades
ago. However, contemporary missions and models require much more complex
support for 3D multi-parameter data, robust data assimilation strategies, and
integration of multiple individual data streams required to derive complete
physical characterizations of the Sun and Heliospheric plasma environment. In
this white paper we highlight some of the 21 century challenges
for data frameworks in heliophysics, consider an illustrative case study, and
make recommendations for important steps the field can take to modernize its
data products and data usage models. Our specific recommendations include: (1)
Investing in data assimilation capability to drive advanced data-constrained
models, (2) Investing in new strategies for integrating data across multiple
instruments to realize measurements that cannot be produced from single
observations, (3) Rethinking old data use paradigms to improve user access,
develop deep understanding, and decrease barrier to entry for new datasets, and
(4) Investing in research on data formats better suited for multi-dimensional
data and cloud-based computing.Comment: White paper submitted to the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space
Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033; 9 pages, 3 figure
Fundamentals of impulsive energy release in the corona
It is essential that there be coordinated and co-optimized observations in
X-rays, gamma-rays, and EUV during the peak of solar cycle 26 (~2036) to
significantly advance our understanding of impulsive energy release in the
corona. The open questions include: What are the physical origins of
space-weather events? How are particles accelerated at the Sun? How is
impulsively released energy transported throughout the solar atmosphere? How is
the solar corona heated? Many of the processes involved in triggering, driving,
and sustaining solar eruptive events -- including magnetic reconnection,
particle acceleration, plasma heating, and energy transport in magnetized
plasmas -- also play important roles in phenomena throughout the Universe. This
set of observations can be achieved through a single flagship mission or, with
foreplanning, through a combination of major missions (e.g., the previously
proposed FIERCE mission concept).Comment: White paper submitted to the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space
Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033; 5 pages, 1 figur
The need for focused, hard X-ray investigations of the Sun
Understanding accelerated particles at the Sun is one of the most important problems in heliophysics. Flare-accelerated particles have huge energies; are an important source of particles in the heliosphere; and are the most important corollary to other areas of high-energy astrophysics. This paper describes the scientific motivation for X-ray studies of particle acceleration at the Sun
The need for focused, hard X-ray investigations of the Sun
Understanding the nature of energetic particles in the solar atmosphere is
one of the most important outstanding problems in heliophysics.
Flare-accelerated particles compose a huge fraction of the flare energy budget;
they have large influences on how events develop; they are an important source
of high-energy particles found in the heliosphere; and they are the single most
important corollary to other areas of high-energy astrophysics. Despite the
importance of this area of study, this topic has in the past decade received
only a small fraction of the resources necessary for a full investigation. For
example, NASA has selected no new Explorer-class instrument in the past two
decades that is capable of examining this topic. The advances that are
currently being made in understanding flare-accelerated electrons are largely
undertaken with data from EOVSA (NSF), STIX (ESA), and NuSTAR (NASA
Astrophysics). This is despite the inclusion in the previous Heliophysics
decadal survey of the FOXSI concept as part of the SEE2020 mission, and also
despite NASA's having invested heavily in readying the technology for such an
instrument via four flights of the FOXSI sounding rocket experiment. Due to
that investment, the instrumentation stands ready to implement a hard X-ray
mission to investigate flare-accelerated electrons. This white paper describes
the scientific motivation for why this venture should be undertaken soon.Comment: White paper submitted to the Decadal Survey for Solar and Space
Physics (Heliophysics) 2024-2033; 15 pages, 5 figure
The need for focused, hard X-ray investigations of the Sun
Understanding accelerated particles at the Sun is one of the most important problems in heliophysics. Flare-accelerated particles have huge energies; are an important source of particles in the heliosphere; and are the most important corollary to other areas of high-energy astrophysics. This paper describes the scientific motivation for X-ray studies of particle acceleration at the Sun