Last major update issued on June 16, 2011 at 04:20 UTC.
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The geomagnetic field was quiet to unsettled on June 15. Solar wind speed ranged between 476 and 555 km/s under the influence of a high speed stream from CH455.
Solar flux measured at 20h UTC on 2.8 GHz was 101.5 (increasing 17.1 over the last solar rotation). The planetary A index was 7 (STAR Ap - based on the mean of three hour interval ap indices: 7.1). Three hour interval K indices: 22222213 (planetary), 22222222 (Boulder).
The background x-ray flux is at the class B3 level.
At midnight UTC the visible solar disk had 4 spotted regions.
Region 11234 developed slowly and could produce further C flares.
Flare: C3.2/1F at 14:32 UTC.
Region 11236 displayed only minor activity and remains capable of
producing occasional M class flares. Flare:
C2.6 at 11:50 UTC.
Spotted regions not numbered by NOAA/SWPC:
[S1064] emerged in the southeast quadrant on June 13 in a large plage
field. The spot observed on June 13 and 14 disappeared on June 15 with another
one emerging much further east in the same plage area. Location at midnight:
S18E32
[S1068] emerged in the southeast quadrant on June 15. Location at
midnight: S30E12
June 13 and 15: No obviously earth directed CMEs were observed.
June 14: A partial halo CME was observed in LASCO images beginning at
06:02 UTC after a prominence eruption in the southeast quadrant. There's a
chance of weak effects from this CME on June 17/18.
Coronal hole history (since late October
2002)
Compare today's report to the situation one solar rotation ago:
28 days ago
27 days ago
26 days ago
A small coronal hole (CH456) in the northern hemisphere near the equator was Earth facing on June 13. A recurrent trans equatorial coronal hole (CH457) will likely become Earth facing on June 20-21.
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. Propagation on long distance northeast-southwest paths is fair.
The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled on June 16-18 due to effects from CH456 and possible CME effects June 17/18.
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 polarity overlay |
Comment | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SWPC | STAR SDO | SWPC | STAR | Current | Previous | |||||
S1052 | 2011.06.07 | N11W46 | plage | |||||||
11234 | 2011.06.08 2011.06.09 |
17 | 31 | S15W22 | 0100 | DAI | DAI | area: 0200 | ||
11235 | 2011.06.10 2011.06.11 |
N14W29 | plage | |||||||
S1057 | 2011.06.10 | S23W32 | plage | |||||||
S1060 | 2011.06.11 | N22W26 | plage | |||||||
S1061 | 2011.06.12 | S02W23 | plage | |||||||
11236 | 2011.06.13 2011.06.14 |
11 | 24 | N17E58 | 0350 | EHI | EHI | |||
S1063 | 2011.06.13 | N33E11 | plage | |||||||
S1064 | 2011.06.13 | 1 | S18E32 | 0000 | AXX | |||||
S1065 | 2011.06.13 | N17W13 | plage | |||||||
S1066 | 2011.06.13 | N44W36 | plage | |||||||
S1067 | 2011.06.14 | N50E01 | plage | |||||||
S1068 | 2011.06.15 | 4 | S30E12 | 0000 | AXX | |||||
Total spot count: | 28 | 60 | ||||||||
Sunspot number: | 48 | 100 |
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 |
2010.02 | 84.7 | 18.8 | 10.6 (+1.3) | 4.15 / 4.61 |
2010.03 | 83.4 | 15.4 | 12.3 (+1.7) | 4.58 / 4.65 |
2010.04 | 75.9 | 8.0 | 14.0 (+1.7) | 10.22 / 10.24 |
2010.05 | 73.8 | 8.7 | 15.5 (+1.5) | 9.18 / 8.15 |
2010.06 | 72.5 | 13.6 | 16.4 (+0.9) | 8.17 / 6.85 |
2010.07 | 79.8 | 16.1 | 16.7 (+0.3) | 6.31 / 5.15 |
2010.08 | 79.2 | 19.6 | 17.4 (+0.7) | 8.49 / 7.77 |
2010.09 | 81.1 | 25.2 | 19.6 (+2.2) | 5.33 / 5.45 |
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 | (29.4 predicted, +2.9) | 3.41 / 4.35 |
2011.01 | 83.6 | 19.1 | (32.6 predicted, +3.2) | 4.32 / 5.51 |
2011.02 | 94.6 | 29.4 | (35.2 predicted, +2.6) | 5.41 / 6.44 |
2011.03 | 115.0 | 56.2 | (37.5 predicted, +2.3) | 7.79 |
2011.04 | 112.6 | 54.4 | (40.4 predicted, +2.9) | 9.71 |
2011.05 | 95.8 | 41.6 | (43.7 predicted, +3.3) | 9.18 |
2011.06 | 97.0 (1) | 31.8 (2A) / 63.7 (2B) | (47.4 predicted, +3.7) | (10.49) |
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.