Correlation of near-Earth proton enhancements >100 MeV with parameters of solar microwave bursts

We analyze the relations between various combinations of peak fluxes and fluences of solar microwave bursts at 35 GHz recorded with the Nobeyama Radio Polarimeters during 1990–2015, and corresponding parameters of proton enhancements with E>100 MeV exceeding 0.1 pfu registered by GOES monitors in near-Earth environment. The highest correlation has been found between the microwave and proton fluences. This fact reflects a dependence of the total number of protons on the total duration of the acceleration process. In the events with strong flares, the correlation coefficients of proton fluences with microwave and soft X-ray fluences are higher than those with speeds of coronal mass ejections. The results indicate a statistically larger contribution of flare processes to acceleration of high-energy protons. Acceleration by shock waves seems to be less important at high energies in events associated with strong flares, although its contribution probably prevails in weaker events. The probability of a detectable proton enhancement was found to directly depend on the peak flux and duration of a microwave burst. This can be used for diagnostics of proton enhancements based on microwave observations.

Correlation of near-Earth proton enhancements >100 MeV with parameters of solar microwave bursts

We analyze the relations between various combinations of peak fluxes and fluences of solar microwave bursts at 35 GHz recorded with the Nobeyama Radio Polarimeters during 1990–2015, and corresponding parameters of proton enhancements with E>100 MeV exceeding 0.1 pfu registered by GOES monitors in near-Earth environment. The highest correlation has been found between the microwave and proton fluences. This fact reflects a dependence of the total number of protons on the total duration of the acceleration process. In the events with strong flares, the correlation coefficients of proton fluences with microwave and soft X-ray fluences are higher than those with speeds of coronal mass ejections. The results indicate a statistically larger contribution of flare processes to acceleration of high-energy protons. Acceleration by shock waves seems to be less important at high energies in events associated with strong flares, although its contribution probably prevails in weaker events. The probability of a detectable proton enhancement was found to directly depend on the peak flux and duration of the microwave burst, that can be used for diagnostics of proton enhancements based on microwave observations.

Evaluating the Solar Slowly Varying Component at C-Band Using Dual- and Single-Polarization Weather Radars in Europe

Six C-band weather radars located in Europe (Finland, Netherlands, and Switzerland) have been used to monitor the slowly varying solar emission, which is an oscillation with an amplitude of several decibels and a period of approximately 27 days. It is caused by the fact that the number of active regions that enhance the solar radio emission with respect to the quiet component, as seen from Earth, varies because of the Sun’s rotation about its axis. The analysis is based on solar signals contained in the polar volume data produced during the operational weather scan strategy. This paper presents hundreds of daily comparisons between radar estimates and the Sun’s reference signal, during the current active Sun period (year 2014). The Sun’s reference values are accurately measured by the Dominion Radio Astrophysical Observatory (DRAO) at S-band and converted to C-band using a standard DRAO formula. Vertical and horizontal polarization receivers are able to capture the monthly oscillation of the solar microwave signal: the standard deviation of the log-transformed ratio between radars and the DRAO reference ranges from 0.26 to 0.4 dB. A larger coefficient (and a different value for the quiet Sun component) in the standard formula improves the agreement.