Last major update issued on December 30, 2011 at 06:10 UTC.
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2116 [October-November 2011] -
2117 [November-December 2011]
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[Solar polar fields vs solar cycles - updated
June 27, 2011]
The geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled on December 29. Solar wind speed ranged between 318 and 508 km/s. No obvious solar wind shocks were observed and the solar wind disturbance was likely the combined effects of weak CMEs and a high speed stream from CH490.
Solar flux measured at 20h UTC on 2.8 GHz was 147.1 (decreasing 10.2 over the last solar rotation). The planetary A index was 7 (STAR Ap - based on the mean of three hour interval ap indices: 6.9). Three hour interval K indices: 12331111 (planetary), 12342222 (Boulder).
The background x-ray flux is at the class B6 level.
At midnight UTC the visible solar disk had 12 spotted regions (in 2K resolution SDO images).
Region 11380 [S22W86] was quiet as it rotated to the southwest limb.
Region 11383 [N04W67] decayed slowly and quietly.
Region 11384 [N12W58] decayed slowly and quietly.
Region 11386 [S16W07] decayed slowly and quietly. Note that SWPC
includes regions S1392 and S1395 in this region.
Region 11388 [S23E42] added a few small spots and was quiet.
Region 11389 [S17E57] was quiet and stable. Note that SWPC includes
region S1401 in this region.
Region 11390 [N10E33] decayed losing the leader spots. SWPC includes
region S1398 in this region.
Spotted regions not reported (or interpreted differently) by NOAA/SWPC:
[S1392] rotated into view at the southeast limb on December 23. Location at midnight:
S18W03
[S1395] emerged in the southeast quadrant on December 25. Location at
midnight: S18E02
[S1398] emerged in the northeast quadrant on December 26, became spotless
the next day and reemerged with several spots on Dec.28. Location at midnight:
N11E27.
[S1401] rotated into view at the southeast limb on December 28 and
developed significantly in the central and trailing spot sections on Dec.29. At
midnight 2 magnetic delta structures were observed. Note that
SWPC includes this region in AR 11389. Further M class flaring is likely. Location at midnight:
S24E64. Flares: C3.0 at 04:05, C3.0 at
06:21, C7.3 at 07:18, C5.4 at 08:48, C1.5 at 09:49, M1.9 at 13:50, C2.8 at
16:21, C2.9 at 17:32, C2.3 at 19:25, C2.3 at 20:32, C2.5 at 21:01, M2.0 at 21:51 UTC.
[S1402] emerged in the northwest quadrant on December 29. Location at
midnight: N18W48
December 27: At least a partial halo CME was associated with the C8 flare
in region 11386 early in the day. This CME is fairly slow and could reach Earth
on December 30.
December 28-29: No obviously Earth directed CMEs were observed in LASCO and
STEREO imagery.
Coronal hole history (since October
2002)
Compare today's report to the situation one solar rotation ago:
28 days ago
27 days ago
26 days ago
A large extension (CH490) of the southern polar coronal hole was in a potentially geoeffective position on December 26-29.
The above coronal hole map is based on a new method where coronal holes are detected automatically. The method may need some fine tuning, however, it has significant advantages over detecting coronal holes manually. The main improvement is the ability to detect coronal holes at and just beyond the solar limbs. Early results using this method for SDO images over a span of several weeks indicate a good match between coronal holes observed over the visible disk and their extent and position at the east and west limbs. Note that the polar coronal holes are easily detected using the new method, the extent and intensity of both holes are consistent with other data sources.
Long distance low and medium frequency (below 2 MHz) propagation along paths north of due west over high and upper middle latitudes is poor to fair. Propagation on long distance northeast-southwest paths is poor.
The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to occasionally unsettled on December 30 - January 1 due to weak CME and coronal hole effects.
Coronal holes (1) | Coronal mass ejections (2) | M and X class flares (3) |
1) Effects from a coronal hole could reach Earth within the
next 5 days. When the high speed stream has arrived the color changes to
green.
2) Effects from a CME are likely to be observed at Earth within 96 hours.
3) There is a possibility of either M or X class flares within the next 48
hours.
Green: 0-20% probability, Yellow: 20-60% probability, Red: 60-100% probability.
Click on image for higher resolution image) Compare to the previous day's image
When available the active region map has a coronal hole polarity overlay where red (pink) is negative and blue (blue-green) is positive.
Data for all numbered solar regions according to the Solar Region Summary provided by NOAA/SWPC. Comments are my own, as is the STAR spot count (spots observed at or inside a few hours before midnight) and data for regions not numbered by SWPC or where SWPC has observed no spots. SWPC active region numbers in the table below and in the active region map above are the historic SWPC/USAF numbers.
Active region | Date numbered detected |
Spot count | Location at midnight | Area | Classification | SDO / HMI 4K continuum image with magnetic polarity overlay |
Comment | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SWPC | STAR SDO | SWPC | STAR | Current | Previous | |||||
11380 | 2011.12.16 2011.12.17 |
2 | S22W86 | 0180 | CAO | this is AR 11387 to SWPC | ||||
11383 | 2011.12.18 2011.12.19 |
1 | 1 | N04W68 | 0005 | HRX | AXX | |||
11384 | 2011.12.19 2011.12.20 |
5 | 1 | N12W55 | 0340 | CKO | HHX |
|
||
11385 | 2011.12.21 2011.12.23 |
S32W81 | plage | |||||||
11386 | 2011.12.22 2011.12.23 |
9 | 7 | S17W05 | 0140 | DSI | BXO |
area: 0010 location: S16W07 SWPC includes regions S1392, S1395 |
||
S1392 | 2011.12.23 | 7 | S18W03 | 0160 | CSO | |||||
S1393 | 2011.12.24 | N23E02 | plage | |||||||
S1394 | 2011.12.24 | N26W39 | plage | |||||||
S1395 | 2011.12.25 | 3 | S18E02 | 0000 | BXO | |||||
11387 | 2011.12.25 | 5 | S19W83 | 0170 | DAO | see region 11380 | ||||
11388 | 2011.12.26 2011.12.27 |
1 | 5 | S23E41 | 0070 | HSX | CSO | location: S23E42 | ||
S1398 | 2011.12.26 | 5 | N11E27 | 0020 | CRO | |||||
11389 | 2011.12.27 2011.12.28 |
8 | 1 | S23E58 | 0290 | EKI | HHX |
area: 0320 location: S17E57 SWPC includes region S1401 |
||
S1400 | 2011.12.27 | N17E16 | plage | |||||||
S1401 | 2011.12.28 | 18 | S24E64 | 0450 | EAC | beta-gamma-delta | ||||
11390 | 2011.12.28 | 6 | 4 | N08E29 | 0010 | CAO | AXX | SWPC includes region S1398 | ||
S1402 | 2011.12.29 | 2 | N18W48 | 0000 | AXX | |||||
Total spot count: | 35 | 56 | ||||||||
Sunspot number: | 105 | 176 | (total spot count + 10 * number of spotted regions) | |||||||
Weighted penumbral SN: | 78 | 99 | (Sum of total spot count + classification weighting for each AR. Classification weighting: X=0, R=3, A/S=5, H/K=10) | |||||||
Relative sunspot number (Wolf number): | 63 | 79 | k * (sunspot number). k = 0.6 for SWPC. k = 0.45 (changed from 0.33 on Nov.1) for STAR SDO |
Month | Average measured solar flux | International sunspot number (SIDC) | Smoothed sunspot number | Average ap (3) |
---|---|---|---|---|
2008.07 | 65.7 (SF minimum) | 0.5 | 2.8 (-0.4) | |
2008.12 | 69.2 | 0.8 | 1.7 (-) sunspot minimum |
3.25 |
2010.10 | 81.6 | 23.5 | 23.2 (+3.6) | 6.07 / 6.27 |
2010.11 | 82.5 | 21.5 | 26.5 (+3.3) | 4.80 / 5.50 |
2010.12 | 84.2 | 14.4 | 28.8 (+2.3) | 3.41 / 4.35 |
2011.01 | 83.6 | 19.1 | 31.0 (+2.2) | 4.32 / 5.51 |
2011.02 | 94.6 | 29.4 | 33.4 (+2.4) | 5.41 / 6.44 |
2011.03 | 115.0 | 56.2 | 36.9 (+3.5) | 7.79 / 8.18 |
2011.04 | 112.6 | 54.4 | 41.8 (+4.9) | 9.71 / 8.83 |
2011.05 | 95.8 | 41.6 | 47.6 (+5.8) | 9.18 / 8.94 |
2011.06 | 95.8 | 37.0 | (53.7 projected, +6.1) | 8.96 / 8.06 |
2011.07 | 94.2 | 43.9 | (60.0 projected, +6.3) | 9.14 / 8.16 |
2011.08 | 101.7 | 50.6 | (65.5 projected, +5.5) | 8.16 / 7.26 |
2011.09 | 133.8 | 78.0 | (68.8 projected, +3.3) | 12.80 / 12.27 |
2011.10 | 137.3 | 88.0 | (72.3 projected, +3.5) | 7.52 |
2011.11 | 153.5 | 96.7 | (76.6 projected, +4.3) | 4.58 |
2011.12 | 141.6 (1) | 100.1 (2A) / 107.0 (2B) | (82.1 projected, +5.5) | (3.22) |
1) Running average based on the daily 20:00 UTC observed solar flux value at
2800 MHz.
2A) Current impact on the monthly sunspot number based on the Boulder
(NOAA/SWPC) sunspot number (accumulated daily sunspots / month days). The
official SIDC international sunspot number is typically 30-50% lower. 2B) Month
average to date.
3) Running average based on the preliminary daily SWPC ap indices.
Values in red are based on the official NGDC
ap indices.
This report has been prepared by Jan Alvestad. It is based on analysis of data from whatever sources are available at the time the report is prepared. All time references are to the UTC day. Comments and suggestions are always welcome.
SDO images are courtesy of NASA/SDO and the AIA, EVE, and HMI science teams.