Second Remote Sensing of the Inner Heliosphere Workshop

Multi-point in situ observations and flux rope modeling of the August 2-4 2010 ICMEs

Not scheduled

1m

Council Chamber, Old College (Aberystwyth University)

Speaker

Dr Elizabeth Jensen (Planetary Science Institute)

Description

A complex solar eruption occurred at the beginning of August 2010 releasing a disappearing filament and a halo CME on an Earthward trajectory from Region 1092. The first ICME arrived on August 3rd followed by a second stronger ICME on the 4th; both were traveling at approximately a factor of 2 greater than the surrounding solar wind. The CMEs triggered a G2-class geomagnetic storm. We have performed multipoint in situ, non-force-free flux rope modeling of the series of ICME events occurring on August 2-4, 2010 as observed by the ACE, VEX, and STB spacecraft using the Mulligan and Russell (2001) method. We find the flux rope fits at VEX and STB result in right-handed structures while the ACE fit shows a sibling structure with the opposite handedness. This indicates the ICME observed at ACE is not the same structure as that observed by VEX and STB. Additionally, the rope at ACE is oriented with its axis at a high inclination to the ecliptic plane. The structure observed at both VEX and STB is oriented quasiparallel to the ecliptic plane, showing a slight bending along its axis between the two spacecraft. We will discuss these results within the framework of comparing these in-situ fits with 3-D tomographic inversions of white light data and radio scintillation observations.