Last major update issued on March 17, 2013 at 04:40 UTC.
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SSN Workshop, Tucson, 2013 (pdf)]
The geomagnetic field was quiet to active on March 16. Solar wind speed at SOHO ranged between 376 and 488 km/s.
Solar flux measured at 20h UTC on 2.8 GHz was 126.0 (increasing 21.3 over the last solar rotation). The Potsdam WDC planetary A index was 9 (STAR Ap - based on the mean of three hour interval ap indices: 8.8). Three hour interval K indices: 34221111 (planetary), 34322312 (Boulder).
The background x-ray flux was at the class B5 level.
At midnight UTC the visible solar disk had 12 spotted active regions (in 2K resolution SDO images).
Region 11691 [N12W68] was quiet and stable.
Region 11692 [N09W16] was mostly unchanged and quiet.
Region 11694 [N16W13] was quiet and stable.
Region 11695 [N09E06] was quiet and stable.
Region 11696 [N05W36] developed slowly and was quiet.
Region 11697 [N15W48] decayed slowly and quietly.
Region 11698 [S19W59] developed and could produce further C flares and
perhaps a minor M class flare.
Spotted regions not numbered by SWPC:
S2292 [S26E36] decayed losing all but one spot.
S2293 [S13E69] was quiet and stable.
S2294 [N15E30] emerged with tiny spots.
S2296 [N06W20] decayed slowly and quietly.
New region S2300 [S16W32] emerged with penumbra spots.
March 14, 16: No obviously Earth directed CMEs were observed in LASCO
and
STEREO imagery.
March 15: A symmetrical full halo CME was observed after the M1.1 LDE in
AR 11692. The CME will likely reach Earth on March 17.
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 small coronal hole (CH560) in the southern hemisphere was Earth facing on March 14.
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 poor to fair.
The geomagnetic field is expected to be quiet to major storm on March 17 with a chance of severe storm intervals. Quiet to minor storm conditions are likely on March 18 becoming quiet to unsettled on March 19.
| Coronal holes (1) | Coronal mass ejection (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 2K resolution) Compare to the previous day's image. 0.5k image
When available the active region map has a coronal hole polarity overlay where red (pink) is negative and blue 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 | ||||||
| 2K | 1K | ||||||||||
| 11690 | 2013.03.06 | N25W64 | plage | ||||||||
| 11691 | 2013.03.07 2013.03.08 |
7 | 9 | 2 | N12W64 | 0120 | CAO | DSO |
 |
 |
location: N12W68 |
| 11692 | 2013.03.09 | 1 | 9 | 5 | N09W17 | 0240 | HAX | CHO |
 |
 |
area: 0300 |
| 11694 | 2013.03.09 2013.03.10 |
7 | 3 | N17W19 | 0014 | BXO |
 |
 |
location: N16W13 | ||
| 11695 | 2013.03.10 2013.03.11 |
1 | 4 | 1 | N10E05 | 0180 | HAX | CSO |
 |
 |
area: 0230 location: N09E06 |
| 11696 | 2013.03.11 | 10 | 30 | 16 | N04W36 | 0190 | EAI | EAI |
 |
 |
|
| S2286 | 2013.03.11 | N09W56 | plage | ||||||||
| S2288 | 2013.03.12 | N13W51 | plage | ||||||||
| 11697 | 2013.03.13 2013.03.14 |
3 | 2 | 2 | N15W49 | 0010 | BXO | CRO |
 |
 |
|
| 11698 | 2013.03.14 | 8 | 27 | 9 | S19W57 | 0150 | DAO | EAI |
 |
 |
beta-gamma area: 0340 |
| S2291 | 2013.03.14 | S13W52 | plage | ||||||||
| S2292 | 2013.03.15 | 1 | 1 | S26E36 | 0007 | AXX |
 |
 |
|||
| S2293 | 2013.03.15 | 1 | 1 | S13E69 | 0006 | AXX |
 |
 |
|||
| S2294 | 2013.03.15 | 1 | N15E30 | 0002 | BXO |
 |
 |
||||
| S2295 | 2013.03.15 | S24W29 |
 |
plage | |||||||
| S2296 | 2013.03.15 | 1 | N06W20 | 0012 | AXX |
 |
 |
||||
| S2297 | 2013.03.15 | N13W23 |
 |
plage | |||||||
| S2298 | 2013.03.15 | N09W60 |
 |
plage | |||||||
| S2299 | 2013.03.15 | N19E58 |
 |
plage | |||||||
| S2300 | 2013.03.16 | 2 | 2 | S16W32 | 0008 | BXO |
 |
||||
| Total spot count: | 30 | 94 | 42 | ||||||||
| Sunspot number: | 90 | 214 | 142 | (total spot count + 10 * number of spotted regions) | |||||||
| Weighted SN: | 55 | 127 | 75 | (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): | 54 | 75 | 78 | k * (sunspot number). k = 0.6 for SWPC, k = 0.35 for STAR SDO 2K, k = 0.55 for STAR SDO 1K | |||||||
| Month | Average measured solar flux | International sunspot number (SIDC) | Smoothed sunspot number | Average ap (3) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2011.11 | 153.5 (cycle max) | 96.7 (cycle max) | 61.1 (+1.2) | 5.55 |
| 2011.12 | 141.3 | 73.0 | 63.4 (+2.3) | 3.78 |
| 2012.01 | 132.5 | 58.3 | 65.5 (+2.1) | 7.15 |
| 2012.02 | 106.5 | 32.9 | 66.9 (+1.4) possible cycle 24 max |
8.81 |
| 2012.03 | 114.7 | 64.3 | 66.8 (-0.1) | 16.08 |
| 2012.04 | 113.0 | 55.2 | 64.6 (-2.2) | 10.10 |
| 2012.05 | 121.5 | 69.0 | 61.7 (-2.9) | 7.06 |
| 2012.06 | 119.6 | 64.5 | 58.9 (-2.8) | 10.08 |
| 2012.07 | 133.9 | 66.5 | 57.7 (-1.2) | 13.90 |
| 2012.08 | 115.4 | 63.0 | 58.1 (+0.4) | 7.96 |
| 2012.09 | 122.9 | 61.4 | (57.9 projected, -0.2) | 8.07 |
| 2012.10 | 123.3 | 53.3 | (57.0 projected, -0.9) | 9.97 |
| 2012.11 | 121.3 | 61.4 | (56.1 projected, -0.9) | 7.08 |
| 2012.12 | 108.6 | 40.8 | (54.9 projected, -1.2) | 3.44 |
| 2013.01 | 127.1 | 62.9 | (53.6 projected, -1.3) | 4.69 |
| 2013.02 | 104.3 | 38.0 | (52.5 projected, -1.1) | 6.11 |
| 2013.03 | 117.8 (1) | 48.5 (2A) / 94.5 (2B) / 52.3 (2C) | (51.5 projected, -1.0) | (7.27) |
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)
Boulder SN current month
average to date. 2C) STAR SDO 1K Wolf number 30 day average.
3) Running average based on the quicklook and definitive Potsdam WDC ap indices.
Values in red are based on the definitive
international Potsdam
WDC
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.
