NORTHWEST RESEARCH ASSOCIATES, INC. — Department of Commerce SBIR Phase I: 8.4.1W

Description

Solar active regions have a major impact on space weather. Knowledge of active regions in the Sun’s far hemisphere can improve forecasts of impending solar storms and future UV irradiance variations that negatively impact spacecraft, communications, and navigation facilities, thus making knowledge of active region locations and strengths of great benefit to society. We will use algorithms based on seismology of acoustic waves in the Sun to monitor the Sun’s far hemisphere: computational seismic holography and time-distance tomography. We will develop a large-active-region discriminator, capable of partitioning seismic signatures into simple individual elements for the purpose of identifying and characterizing the far-side active regions. For the Phase I study, primary emphasis will be on validating the helioseismic assessment of the locations, strengths, and growth rates of active regions in the Sun’s far hemisphere in terms of stability and consistency over a 5-year period. Based upon these results, we will develop plans for a Phase II project to make synoptic seismic monitoring of the Sun’s far hemisphere a crucial role of helioseismic observatories in space weather forecasting in the twenty-first century.