Connecting solar wind composition variations to solar source regions

• Applicant: Professor Dr. Robert F. Wimmer-Schweingruber
• Subject Area: Astrophysics and Astronomy
• Term: from 2017 to 2021
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 396329576

Locating the solar source regions of slow solar wind is one of the major science goals of ESAs soon to be launched mission Solar Orbiter. In particular, Solar Orbiter will rely on correlating in situ measurements of the solar wind with remote-sensing observations of potential source regions of the slow solar wind by comparing observations of elemental composition. The purpose of our proposed investigation is to assess the validity of the underlying assumptions required for the future analysis of the data acquired by Solar Orbiter with the help of in situ data measured by the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE) as well as remote-sensing observations from the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) and the Extreme ultraviolet Imaging Telescope (EIT) both onboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO). Both sides are combined with a combination of ballistic and magnetic back-mapping. Therein we will focus mainly on the in situ aspect of the observations.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants