Demonstration of a viable quantitative theory for interplanetary type II radio bursts

Journal Article · Fri Mar 25 04:00:00 EDT 2016 · AIP Conference Proceedings

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1063/1.4943825· OSTI ID:22590911

Cairns, Iver H. ^[1]

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1. School of Physics, Physics Road, Building A28, University of Sydney, NSW 2006 (Australia)

Between 29 November and 1 December 2013 the two widely separated spacecraft STEREO A and B observed a long lasting, intermittent, type II radio burst for the extended frequency range ≈ 4 MHz to 30 kHz, including an intensification when the shock wave of the associated coronal mass ejection (CME) reached STEREO A. We demonstrate for the first time our ability to quantitatively and accurately simulate the fundamental (F) and harmonic (H) emission of type II bursts from the higher corona (near 11 solar radii) to 1 AU. Our modeling requires the combination of data-driven three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations for the CME and plasma background, carried out with the BATS-R-US code, with an analytic quantitative kinetic model for both F and H radio emission, including the electron reflection at the shock, growth of Langmuir waves and radio waves, and the radiations propagation to an arbitrary observer. The intensities and frequencies of the observed radio emissions vary hugely by factors ≈ 10{sup 6} and ≈ 10{sup 3}, respectively; the theoretical predictions are impressively accurate, being typically in error by less than a factor of 10 and 20 %, for both STEREO A and B. We also obtain accurate predictions for the timing and characteristics of the shock and local radio onsets at STEREO A, the lack of such onsets at STEREO B, and the z-component of the magnetic field at STEREO A ahead of the shock, and in the sheath. Very strong support is provided by these multiple agreements for the theory, the efficacy of the BATS-R-US code, and the vision of using type IIs and associated data-theory iterations to predict whether a CME will impact Earth’s magnetosphere and drive space weather events.

• OSTI ID: 22590911
• Journal Information: AIP Conference Proceedings, Journal Name: AIP Conference Proceedings Journal Issue: 1 Vol. 1720; ISSN 0094-243X; ISSN APCPCS
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
KHZ RANGE
MHZ RANGE
PLASMA
SHOCK WAVES
SOLAR CORONA
SOLAR ELECTRONS
SOLAR RADIO BURSTS
SPACE VEHICLES
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS