Determining CME-Driven Shock Parameters from Remote Sensing Observations

摘要

Coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are large scale eruptions of magnetized plasma propagating from the Sun into interplanetary space with speeds varying from a few tens to more than 2500 kms~(-1). They cause large-scale turbulence in the heliosphere and are the major drivers of space weather. Fast CMEs drive strong shocks in the corona and interplanetary medium and generate plasma turbulence in the post-shock regions ahead of the CME bodies. In this work results from the detailed analysis of a strong CME and shock event on April 3, 2010 are summarized. For this event the solar source region is identified and the CME and shock kinematics are determined from time series of white light images obtained by the SECCHI suite on board the STEREO spacecrafts. The shock's standoff distance, compression ratio and Mach number are derived. A comparison of the derived values with the in-situ measurements shows good agreement. Further comparison of the shock MHD parameters determined from remote sensing observations with in-situ data, including the calculation of power-spectra, will help validating the results and provide new insights into CME generated turbulence. The study will be extended to further events identified in STEREO observations.