Earth Sun ID: 4010

Space Weather Research: The CME of March 2012

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on December 20, 2012

Forecasting space weather is of vital importance in protecting NASA assets around the solar system. For this reason, NASA routinely tests various space weather models at the Community-Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC).

This visualization is constructed from a computer model run of a coronal mass ejection (CME) launched from the sun in early March, 2012. The preliminary CME parameters were measured from instruments on the STEREO (the red and blue satellite icons) and SDO (in Earth orbit) satellites. The Enlil model was used to propagate those parameters through the solar system. From this model, they can estimate the strength and time of arrival of the CME at various locations around the solar system. This allows other missions to either safe-mode their satellites for protection, or allow them to conduct measurements to test the accuracy of the model.

Enlil model for the March 2012 coronal mass ejection, plotted out to ten astronomical units (beyond the orbit of Saturn). The top view slices the data in the plane of the Earth's orbit and projects the planetary orbits onto that. The side view is a cross-section through the Sun-Earth line. The wedge-shape of the side view is because the Enlil model only extends above and below the solar equator by 60 degrees.

Enlil model for the March 2012 coronal mass ejection, plotted out to two astronomical units (beyond the orbit of Mars). The top view slices the data in the plane of the Earth's orbit and projects the planetary orbits onto that. The side view is a cross-section through the Sun-Earth line. The wedge-shape of the side view is because the Enlil model only extends above and below the solar equator by 60 degrees.

This color table represents how displaying each of the three variables as separate red, green, and blue color ramps combine to identify characteristics in the solar wind and CME.

The mass density in atomic mass units (AMUs) per cubic centimeter. 1 AMU/cc corresponds to 1 hydrogen ion or atom per cc.

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
Scott Wiessinger (USRA): Producer
Genna Duberstein (USRA): Producer

Please give credit for this item to:
NASA's Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio, the Space Weather Research Center (SWRC) and the Community-Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC), Enlil and Dusan Odstrcil (GMU).

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/4010

Data Used:

Enlil Heliospheric Model also referred to as: Enlil Heliospheric Model

Model - Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC) - 2012-03-05T09:00:00 - 2012-04-05T09:03:00

MHD solar wind simulation

view all stories where this data set is used

SPICE Ephemerides also referred to as: SPICE Ephemerides

Ephemeris - NASA/JPL - 2012-03-05T09:00:00 - 2012-04-05T09:03:00

Satellite and planetary ephemerides

view all stories where this data set is used

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.

This item is part of this series:
Space Weather Modeling

Keywords:
SVS >> Solar Wind
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Flares
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Solar Ultraviolet
SVS >> Space Weather
SVS >> Hyperwall
SVS >> Heliophysics
SVS >> Corona
NASA Science >> Earth
NASA Science >> Sun
GCMD >> Earth Science >> Sun-earth Interactions >> Solar Activity >> Coronal Mass Ejections

GCMD keywords can be found on the Internet with the following citation: Olsen, L.M., G. Major, K. Shein, J. Scialdone, S. Ritz, T. Stevens, M. Morahan, A. Aleman, R. Vogel, S. Leicester, H. Weir, M. Meaux, S. Grebas, C.Solomon, M. Holland, T. Northcutt, R. A. Restrepo, R. Bilodeau, 2013. NASA/Global Change Master Directory (GCMD) Earth Science Keywords. Version 8.0.0.0.0