Finding Hidden Conjunctions in the Solar Wind - SSW

FINDING HIDDEN CONJUNCTIONS IN THE SOLAR WIND - ZOE FAES

This research aims to identify sets of in-situ measurements of the solar wind sampling the same volume of plasma at different times and locations in the heliosphere – referred to here as conjunctions. Observations of the same volume of plasma as it travels through the heliosphere allows for the characterization of the expansion of the solar wind. Specifically, this will enable us to test the current understanding of solar wind acceleration from the corona to the inner heliosphere using a greater sample of measurements than has been used in past research.
Using in-situ measurements from Solar Orbiter, Parker Solar Probe, STEREO-A, Wind and BepiColombo, we identify a set of criteria from known conjunctions and search for other instances in which the criteria are satisfied. To improve the performance of our statistical detection algorithm, we will use a machine learning model trained on synthetic observations to identify candidate conjunctions. The initial statistical analysis shows that correlation and time lag between timeseries are the best predictors of conjunctions. Initial results show a limited set of conjunctions which we hope to expand using machine learning methods.
The modular scientific software built over the course of this research will be released as an open-source Python package to ensure results can be easily reproduced and to facilitate further investigation of coordinated in-situ data.