Research Highlights

Research Highlights

A selection of highlights culled from publications by HAO staff.

Flare versus Rossby waves

On the connection between Rieger-type and magneto-Rossby waves driving the frequency of the large solar eruptions during Solar Cycles 19 - 25

Mausumi Dikpati, et. al. present findings of a unique evolution of identified shorter periodicities in global solar activity variation, like the Rieger-type, arising from magnetic Rossby waves, throughout the Solar Cycles 19-25. They report is further observational evidence of the strong relationship between the Rieger-type periodicity, magneto-Rossby waves, and major solar flare activity.

Double band MHD instability

Magnetohydrodynamics Instabilities of Double Magnetic Bands in a Shallow-water Tachocline Model: I Cross-equatorial Interactions of Bands

Bernadett Belucz, Mausumi Dikpati, Scott W. McIntosh, Robert J. Leamon, and Robertus Erdelyi discuss the Extended Solar Cycle (ESC) activity and strong overlapping between cycles. They compute the unstable eigenmodes for MHD Rossby waves at the base of the convection zone and study how the properties of these energetically active Rossby waves change as these band-pairs migrate equatorward.

CEDAR participants attending the banquet dinner seated at a round table

Cultivating a culture of inclusivity in Heliophysics

Dr. Astrid Maute talked to a large number of heliophysicists while attending the CEDAR 2022 workshop. In this paper she describes a concerning number of heliophysicists that shared terrifying stories and experiences of bullying, harassment, burnout, etc., from across career levels, institution types, and job titles. While writing these position papers, the number of people who privately shared terrifying stories and experiences of bullying and harassment was insane.

Personss representing diversity, equity, and inclusion

Recommendations on simple but transformative diversity, equity, and inclusion measures in Heliophysics over the next decade

Astrid Maute asserts the importance of bringing diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) efforts to the forefront of Heliophysics over the next decade and well beyond. This position paper outlines three specific recommendations to make the Heliophysics community more diverse, equitable, and inclusive by improving the accessibility and accountability.

Reduce Implicit Bias

Thoughts from the AGU SPA Fellows Committee

Astrid Maute, et al. assert that biases against marginalized groups and institutions can be mitigated by avoiding heavy-weighting metrics such as h-index and past awards. Progress has been made in recent years thanks to the efforts of the Nominating Task Force and this committee and AGU’s efforts to acknowledge and mitigate implicit biases. However, we must continue to be vigilant and work towards ensuring we recognize all those who are deserving of becoming an AGU fellow.

Synthetic Hα images generated from a MURaM simulation

Rapid Blue- and Red-shifted Excursions in H α line profiles synthesized from realistic 3D MHD simulations

S. Danilovic, J. P. Bjørgen, J. Leenaarts, and M. Rempel discuss the important role of Rapid blue- and red-shifted events (RBEs/RREs) in mass-loading and heating the solar corona, but their nature and origin are still debatable. They model these features to learn more about their properties, formation and origin.

Two flux surfaces pressed into contact

The topological nature of the Parker Magnetostatic Theorem

B. C. Low reviews the two-plate initial boundary-value problem of Parker, treating the relaxation of a 3D magnetic field prescribed with an arbitrary topology to a terminal force-free field in a cold, viscous, electrically perfect fluid-conductor. Anchored by their foot-points at the perfectly conducting rigid plates, the relaxing field preserves its topology.

ICON MIGHTI track

Pronounced suppression and X-pattern merging of equatorial ionization anomalies after the 2022 Tonga volcano eruption

Wenbin Wang, Liying Qian, et. al. investigate the crests variations and associated ionosphere-thermosphere disturbances following the 2022 Tonga Volcano eruption, dramatic suppression and deformation of the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) crests occurred in the American sector ∼14,000 km away from the epicenter.

Sunquake Detection Process Diagram

A Machine Learning Enhanced Approach for Automated Sunquake Detection in Acoustic Emission Maps

Vanessa Mercea, Alin Razvan Paraschiv, Daniela Adriana Lacatus, Anca Marginean, Diana Besliu-Ionescu  introduce an acoustic holography processed dataset constructed from egression-power maps of solar active regions for Solar Cycles 23 and 24. They then present a pedagogical approach to the application of machine learning representation methods for sunquake detection using AutoEncoders, Contrastive Learning, Object Detection and recurrent techniques, which we enhance by introducing several custom domain-specific data augmentation transformations.