Aims.
Fluences of solar energetic particles (SEPs) are not easy to evaluate, especially for high-energy events (i.e. ground-level enhancements, GLEs). Earlier estimates of event-integrated SEP ...fluences for GLEs were based on partly outdated assumptions and data, and they required revisions. Here, we present the results of a full revision of the spectral fluences for most major SEP events (GLEs) for the period from 1956 to 2017 using updated low-energy flux estimates along with greatly revisited high-energy flux data and applying the newly invented reconstruction method including an improved neutron-monitor yield function.
Methods.
Low- and high-energy parts of the SEP fluence were estimated using a revised space-borne/ionospheric data and ground-based neutron monitors, respectively. The measured data were fitted by the modified Band function spectral shape. The best-fit parameters and their uncertainties were assessed using a direct Monte Carlo method.
Results.
A full reconstruction of the event-integrated spectral fluences was performed in the energy range above 30 MeV, parametrised and tabulated for easy use along with estimates of the 68% confidence intervals.
Conclusions.
This forms a solid basis for more precise studies of the physics of solar eruptive events and the transport of energetic particles in the interplanetary medium, as well as the related applications.
ABSTRACT We study the link between an expanding coronal shock and the energetic particles measured near Earth during the ground level enhancement of 2012 May 17. We developed a new technique based on ...multipoint imaging to triangulate the three-dimensional (3D) expansion of the shock forming in the corona. It uses images from three vantage points by mapping the outermost extent of the coronal region perturbed by the pressure front. We derive for the first time the 3D velocity vector and the distribution of Mach numbers, MFM, of the entire front as a function of time. Our approach uses magnetic field reconstructions of the coronal field, full magnetohydrodynamic simulations and imaging inversion techniques. We find that the highest MFM values appear near the coronal neutral line within a few minutes of the coronal mass ejection onset; this neutral line is usually associated with the source of the heliospheric current and plasma sheet. We illustrate the variability of the shock speed, shock geometry, and Mach number along different modeled magnetic field lines. Despite the level of uncertainty in deriving the shock Mach numbers, all employed reconstruction techniques show that the release time of GeV particles occurs when the coronal shock becomes super-critical (MFM > 3). Combining in situ measurements with heliospheric imagery, we also demonstrate that magnetic connectivity between the accelerator (the coronal shock of 2012 May 17) and the near-Earth environment is established via a magnetic cloud that erupted from the same active region roughly five days earlier.
Using data obtained with neutron monitors and space-borne instruments, we analyzed the second ground-level enhancement (GLE) of Solar Cycle 24, namely the event of 10 September 2017 (GLE 72), and ...derived the spectral and angular characteristics of associated GLE particles. We employed a new neutron-monitor yield function and a recently proposed model based on an optimization procedure. The method consists of simulating particle propagation in a model magnetosphere in order to derive the cutoff rigidity and neutron-monitor asymptotic directions. Subsequently, the rigidity spectrum and anisotropy of GLE particles are obtained in their dynamical evolution during the event on the basis of an inverse-problem solution. The derived angular distribution and spectra are discussed briefly.
Context. Solar energetic particles observed in association with coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are produced by the CME-driven shock waves. The acceleration of particles is considered to be due to ...diffusive shock acceleration (DSA). Aims. We aim at a better understanding of DSA in the case of quasi-parallel shocks, in which self-generated turbulence in the shock vicinity plays a key role. Methods. We have developed and applied a new Monte Carlo simulation code for acceleration of protons in parallel coronal shocks. The code performs a self-consistent calculation of resonant interactions of particles with Alfvén waves based on the quasi-linear theory. In contrast to the existing Monte Carlo codes of DSA, the new code features the full quasi-linear resonance condition of particle pitch-angle scattering. This allows us to take anisotropy of particle pitch-angle scattering into account, while the older codes implement an approximate resonance condition leading to isotropic scattering. We performed simulations with the new code and with an old code, applying the same initial and boundary conditions, and have compared the results provided by both codes with each other, and with the predictions of the steady-state theory. Results. We have found that anisotropic pitch-angle scattering leads to less efficient acceleration of particles than isotropic. However, extrapolations to particle injection rates higher than those we were able to use suggest the capability of DSA to produce relativistic particles. The particle and wave distributions in the foreshock as well as their time evolution, provided by our new simulation code, are significantly different from the previous results and from the steady-state theory. Specifically, the mean free path in the simulations with the new code is increasing with energy, in contrast to the theoretical result.
Aims.
The first relativistic solar proton event of solar cycle 25 was detected on 28 October 2021 by neutron monitors (NMs) on the ground and particle detectors on board spacecraft in near-Earth ...space. This is the first ground-level enhancement (GLE) of the current cycle. A detailed reconstruction of the NM response together with the identification of the solar eruption that generated these particles is investigated based on in situ and remote-sensing measurements.
Methods.
In situ proton observations from a few MeV to ∼500 MeV were combined with the detection of a solar flare in soft X-rays, a coronal mass ejection, radio bursts, and extreme ultraviolet (EUV) observations to identify the solar origin of the GLE. Timing analysis was performed, and a relation to the solar sources was outlined.
Results.
GLE73 reached a maximum particle rigidity of ∼2.4 GV and is associated with type III, type II, and type IV radio bursts and an EUV wave. A diversity of time profiles recorded by NMs was observed. This points to the event having an anisotropic nature. The peak flux at
E
> 10 MeV was only ∼30 pfu and remained at this level for several days. The release time of ≥1 GV particles was found to be ∼15:40 UT. GLE73 had a moderately hard rigidity spectrum at very high energies (
γ
∼ 5.5). Comparison of GLE73 to previous GLEs with similar solar drivers is performed.
Context. The source of high-energy protons (above ~500 MeV) responsible for ground level enhancements (GLEs) remains an open question in solar physics. One of the candidates is a shock wave driven by ...a coronal mass ejection, which is thought to accelerate particles via diffusive-shock acceleration. Aims. We perform physics-based simulations of proton acceleration using information on the shock and ambient plasma parameters derived from the observation of a real GLE event. We analyse the simulation results to find out which of the parameters are significant in controlling the acceleration efficiency and to get a better understanding of the conditions under which the shock can produce relativistic protons. Methods. We use the results of the recently developed technique to determine the shock and ambient plasma parameters, applied to the 17 May 2012 GLE event, and carry out proton acceleration simulations with the Coronal Shock Acceleration (CSA) model. Results. We performed proton acceleration simulations for nine individual magnetic field lines characterised by various plasma conditions. Analysis of the simulation results shows that the acceleration efficiency of the shock, i.e. its ability to accelerate particles to high energies, tends to be higher for those shock portions that are characterised by higher values of the scattering-centre compression ratio rc and/or the fast-mode Mach number MFM. At the same time, the acceleration efficiency can be strengthened by enhanced plasma density in the corresponding flux tube. The simulations show that protons can be accelerated to GLE energies in the shock portions characterised by the highest values of rc. Analysis of the delays between the flare onset and the production times of protons of 1 GV rigidity for different field lines in our simulations, and a subsequent comparison of those with the observed values indicate a possibility that quasi-perpendicular portions of the shock play the main role in producing relativistic protons.
Interplanetary (IP) shocks are fundamental building blocks of the heliosphere, and the possibility to observe them in situ is crucial to address important aspects of energy conversion for a variety ...of astrophysical systems. Steepened waves known as shocklets are known to be important structures of planetary bow shocks, but they are very rarely observed related to IP shocks. We present here the first multi-spacecraft observations of shocklets observed by upstream of an unusually strong IP shock observed on 3 No v ember 2021 by several spacecraft at L1 and near-Earth solar wind. The same shock was detected also by radially aligned Solar Orbiter at 0.8 AU from the Sun, but no shocklets were identified from its data, introducing the possibility to study the environment in which shocklets developed. The Wind spacecraft has been used to characterize the shocklets, associated with pre-conditioning of the shock upstream by decelerating incoming plasma in the shock normal direction. Finally, using the Wind observations together with ACE and DSCOVR spacecraft at L1, as well as THEMIS B and THEMIS C in the near-Earth solar wind, the portion of interplanetary space filled with shocklets is addressed, and a lower limit for its extent is estimated to be of about 110 RE in the shock normal direction and 25 RE in the directions transverse to the shock normal. Using multiple spacecraft also reveals that for this strong IP shock, shocklets are observed for a large range of local obliquity estimates (9° –64°).
Aims.
We model the energetic storm particle (ESP) event of 14 July 2012 using the energetic particle acceleration and transport model named ‘PArticle Radiation Asset Directed at Interplanetary Space ...Exploration’ (PARADISE), together with the solar wind and coronal mass ejection (CME) model named ‘EUropean Heliospheric FORcasting Information Asset’ (EUHFORIA). The simulation results illustrate both the capabilities and limitations of the utilised models. We show that the models capture some essential structural features of the ESP event; however, for some aspects the simulations and observations diverge. We describe and, to some extent, assess the sources of errors in the modelling chain of EUHFORIA and PARADISE and discuss how they may be mitigated in the future.
Methods.
The PARADISE model computes energetic particle distributions in the heliosphere by solving the focused transport equation in a stochastic manner. This is done using a background solar wind configuration generated by the ideal magnetohydrodynamic module of EUHFORIA. The CME generating the ESP event is simulated by using the spheromak model of EUHFORIA, which approximates the CME’s flux rope as a linear force-free spheroidal magnetic field. In addition, a tool was developed to trace CME-driven shock waves in the EUHFORIA simulation domain. This tool is used in PARADISE to (i) inject 50 keV protons continuously at the CME-driven shock and (ii) include a foreshock and a sheath region, in which the energetic particle parallel mean free path,
λ
∥
, decreases towards the shock wave. The value of
λ
∥
at the shock wave is estimated from in situ observations of the ESP event.
Results.
For energies below ∼1 MeV, the simulation results agree well with both the upstream and downstream components of the ESP event observed by the Advanced Composition Explorer. This suggests that these low-energy protons are mainly the result of interplanetary particle acceleration. In the downstream region, the sharp drop in the energetic particle intensities is reproduced at the entry into the following magnetic cloud, illustrating the importance of a magnetised CME model.
Context.
It is thought that solar energetic ions associated with coronal and interplanetary shock waves are accelerated to high energies by the diffusive shock acceleration mechanism. For this ...mechanism to be efficient, intense magnetic turbulence is needed in the vicinity of the shock. The enhanced turbulence upstream of the shock can be produced self-consistently by the accelerated particles themselves via streaming instability. Comparisons of quasi-linear-theory-based particle acceleration models that include this process with observations have not been fully successful so far, which has motivated the development of acceleration models of a different nature.
Aims.
Our aim is to test how well our self-consistent quasi-linear SOLar Particle Acceleration in Coronal Shocks (SOLPACS) simulation code, developed earlier to simulate proton acceleration in coronal shocks, models the particle foreshock region.
Methods.
We applied SOLPACS to model the energetic storm particle (ESP) event observed by the STEREO A spacecraft on November 10, 2012.
Results.
All but one main input parameter of SOLPACS are fixed by the in situ plasma measurements from the spacecraft. By comparing a simulated proton energy spectrum at the shock with the observed one, we were able to fix the last simulation input parameter related to the efficiency of particle injection to the acceleration process. A subsequent comparison of simulated proton time-intensity profiles in a number of energy channels with the observed ones shows a very good correspondence throughout the upstream region.
Conclusions.
Our results strongly support the quasi-linear description of the foreshock region.
We report ion acceleration by flux transfer events in the terrestrial magnetosheath in a global two‐dimensional hybrid‐Vlasov polar plane simulation of Earth's solar wind interaction. In the model we ...find that propagating flux transfer events created in magnetic reconnection at the dayside magnetopause drive fast‐mode bow waves in the magnetosheath, which accelerate ions in the shocked solar wind flow. The acceleration at the bow waves is caused by a shock drift‐like acceleration process under stationary solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field upstream conditions. Thus, the energization is not externally driven but results from plasma dynamics within the magnetosheath. Energetic proton populations reach the energy of 30 keV, and their velocity distributions resemble time‐energy dispersive ion injections observed by the Cluster spacecraft in the magnetosheath.
Key Points
Global hybrid‐Vlasov model predicts ion acceleration in the terrestrial magnetosheath
The acceleration is associated with bow waves driven by propagating flux transfer events
Velocity distributions of energetic ions are similar to observed magnetosheath ion injections
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