Space Weather Forecasting: Quiet Times Ahead
SOHO/MDI magnetograms combined with the Potential-Field Source-Surface (PFSS) model can be used to generate a model of magnetic field lines in the lower part of the solar corona. When these models are compared to the loops visible in TRACE imagery, a good match (as in this case) indicates that the region will not generate flare events over the next few days.
This movie zooms in to the solar surface then fades to a time varying magnetogram. The PFSS model is overlaid on the source magnetic field, then compared to the TRACE loops. Following the region for several days, we see no flare events.
A full-disk view of the Sun.
A magnetogram closeup view of an active region. White indicates north magnetic polarity, black is south.
Overlay of the PFSS model on the active region.
In this case, we see the PFSS model matches the TRACE coronal loops very well.
The region continues to show changes...
but over two days later, no flares have occurred.
For More Information
Credits
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio
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Animator
- Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.)
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Scientists
- Carolus J. Schrijver (LMSAL)
- Marc L. DeRosa (LMSAL)
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Writer
- William Steigerwald (NASA/GSFC)
Release date
This page was originally published on Tuesday, August 16, 2005.
This page was last updated on Wednesday, May 3, 2023 at 1:56 PM EDT.
Series
This visualization can be found in the following series:Datasets used in this visualization
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PFSS (Magnetic Field Lines) [PFSS]
ID: 409This model generated from SOHO/MDI magnetograms through the SolarSoft package.
This dataset can be found at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov/solarsoft/
See all pages that use this dataset -
Magnetogram [SOHO: Michelson Doppler Interferometer (MDI)]
ID: 618This dataset can be found at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov
See all pages that use this dataset -
Continuum [SOHO: Michelson Doppler Interferometer (MDI)]
ID: 619This dataset can be found at: http://sohowww.nascom.nasa.gov
See all pages that use this dataset -
171 Angstroms [TRACE: Optical Telescope]
ID: 628
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details, nor the data sets themselves on our site.