Last major update issued on November 3, 2011 at 05:15 UTC.
[Solar and geomagnetic data - last month (updated
daily)]
[Solar wind and electron fluence charts (updated
daily)
[Solar cycles 21-24 (last update
November 1, 2011)]
[Solar cycles 1-20]
[Graphical comparison of cycles 21, 22, 23 and 24 (last
update November 1, 2011)]
[Graphical comparison of cycles 10, 12, 13, 14, 16 and
24 (last update November 1, 2011)]
[Historical solar and geomagnetic data charts 1954-2006
(last update April 5, 2007)]
[Archived reports since January 2003 (last update
November 2, 2011)]
[POES auroral activity level since October
2009 - updated November 2, 2011]
Annotated geomagnetic activity charts - Carrington rotation
2114 [August-September 2011] -
2115 [September-October 2011] NEW
[Solar polar fields vs solar cycles - updated
June 27, 2011]
The geomagnetic field was quiet to active on November 2. Solar wind speed ranged between 342 and 457 km/s.
Solar flux measured at 20h UTC on 2.8 GHz was 153.6 (increasing 29.7 over the last solar rotation). The planetary A index was 11 (STAR Ap - based on the mean of three hour interval ap indices: 11.4). Three hour interval K indices: 33243212 (planetary), 23343311 (Boulder).
The background x-ray flux is at the class C1 level.
At midnight UTC the visible solar disk had 9 spotted regions (in 2K resolution SDO images).
Region 11330 [N06W80] rotated quietly to the northwest limb.
Region 11332 [N32W41] was quiet and stable.
Region 11334 [N13W18] decayed slowly and quietly.
Region 11335 [N18W08] decayed slowly and could soon become spotless.
Region 11336 [N13E27] decayed slowly and quietly.
Region 11337 [N18E38] was quiet and lost a few spots.
Region 11338 [S13E56] was quiet and stable.
Region 11339 [N19E72] rotated fully into view. This is a compact region
with a very high flare potential. X class flares are possible, even X10+ events.
The region has a significant magnetic delta structure in the central part and
several small deltas elsewhere. Flares: C5.1
at 02:52, C2.2 at 06:50, C3.4 at 08:43, C3.2 at 10:48, C1.6 at 12:23, C2.7 at
15:56, C7.8 at 17:21, M4.3 at 22:01 UTC
Spotted regions not reported by NOAA/SWPC:
[S1304] emerged in the northeast quadrant on October 31. Location at
midnight: N22W20
October 31 - November 2: No obviously Earth directed CMEs observed.
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 (CH482) in the northern hemisphere was in an Earth facing position on October 31-November 1. A small coronal hole (CH484) in the northern hemisphere will rotate into an Earth facing position on November 3.
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 to good.
The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to unsettled on November 3-6, mostly due to weak 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 polarity overlay |
Comment | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
SWPC | STAR SDO | SWPC | STAR | Current | Previous | |||||
11330 | 2011.10.21 2011.10.22 |
2 | 6 | N05W82 | 0210 | CSO | CHO | location: N06W80 area: 0320 |
||
11333 | 2011.10.23 2011.10.27 |
3 | N10W71 | 0010 | BXO | spotless location: N16W67 SWPC has moved the region southwards to include the trailing spots of 11330 |
||||
11332 | 2011.10.23 2011.10.24 |
1 | 1 | N30W40 | 0010 | AXX | HRX | location: N32W41 | ||
S1296 | 2011.10.27 | N17W42 | plage | |||||||
11335 | 2011.10.28 2011.10.31 |
5 | 1 | N17W11 | 0010 | BXO | AXX | |||
S1299 | 2011.10.28 | N16W49 | plage | |||||||
11336 | 2011.10.29 2011.10.31 |
5 | 5 | N12E26 | 0030 | DRO | CRO | |||
11334 | 2011.10.29 2011.10.30 |
6 | 6 | N11W17 | 0080 | CSO | CSO | location: N13W18 | ||
11337 | 2011.10.30 2011.10.31 |
3 | 6 | N17E38 | 0010 | BXO | CRO | |||
11338 | 2011.10.31 2011.11.01 |
5 | 22 | S14E54 | 0230 | DAO | DHO | location: S13E56 area: 0350 |
||
S1304 | 2011.10.31 | 1 | N22W20 | 0000 | AXX | |||||
11339 | 2011.11.01 | 4 | 34 | N18E63 | 0560 | DKC | FKC | area: ~2000 location: N19E72 |
||
Total spot count: | 34 | 82 | ||||||||
Sunspot number: | 124 | 172 | (total spot count + 10 * number of spotted regions) | |||||||
Classification adjusted SN: | 62 | 126 | (Sum of total spot count + classification adjustment for each AR. Classification adjustment: X=0, R=3, A/S=5, H/K=10) | |||||||
Relative sunspot number (Wolf number): | 74 | 77 | 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 |
2010.07 | 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 | 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 | (47.4 predicted, +5.6) | 9.18 / 8.94 |
2011.06 | 95.8 | 37.0 | (52.5 predicted, +5.1) | 8.96 / 8.06 |
2011.07 | 94.2 | 43.9 | (58.2 predicted, +5.7) | 9.14 / 8.16 |
2011.08 | 101.7 | 50.6 | (63.7 predicted, +5.5) | 8.16 / 7.26 |
2011.09 | 133.8 | 78.0 | (67.0 predicted, +3.3) | 12.80 / 12.27 |
2011.10 | 137.3 | 88.0 | (70.5 predicted, +3.5) | 7.52 |
2011.11 | 146.1 (1) | 8.42 (2A) / 126.5 (2B) | (74.9 predicted, +4.4) | (16.31) |
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.