First EGSO Use Case

Flare Impulsive Phase: Energy Deposition (Single Event Case)

Author: Ester Antonucci

Objective:

Determine the energy released in the solar atmosphere during a flare impulsive phase. This implies the identification of the site(s) of the flare-enhanced emission and the measurement of thermal and non-thermal emission in the relevant wavelength regions.

Data Sets:

The atmospheric level involved in the event are: photosphere (white light flares only), chromosphere, transition region, corona.

The wavelengths most likely used in the analysis: visible continuum (white light flares only), visible emission lines (e.g., H alpha), UV emission lines, soft X-rays (SXR), hard X-rays (HXR), gamma rays, radio emission (bursts).

Data needed are:
1) images at high space and time resolution in the visible, UV, soft X-rays, hard X-rays, gamma, radio, and
2) integrated emission (time series at high temporal resolution) over the flare site, in the SXR, HXR, gamma, radio.

Instruments needed (Instrument Types) are:
imagers with high space and time resolution, in case (1),
detectors integrating over large solid angles, in case (2).

Data Selection:

•Identify flare time interval (from GOES time series, classification). Identify flare location (e.g. from H alpha or SXR or HRX) and define an area (in to be specified coordinates) enclosing the flare location.
•Search for and select simultaneous and co-spatial data sets obtained with all instrument operating during the event and consistent with the defined Instrument Types. Retrieve the list of instruments observing the flare site. (Instrument accepted also in the case of partial covering of the flare site and partial covering of the flare time interval.)
•Get for each instrument accurate information on the energy or wavelength/frequency band covered during the observation, energy, space and time resolution.
•Select the instruments on the basis of energy, or wavelength/frequency, range and energy, space and time resolution needed for the analysis.

Data Processing during the Selection Phase:

•Preview all images of selected instruments to assess the goodness of the data (in terms of quality, temporal coverage, spatial coverage of data, etc?); for example, in form of superposed images in 3D display (third dimension: height in the atmosphere or
uniform spacing according to TBD criterion).
•Preview all available time series (of flare signals) to assess the goodness of data.
•Select the data: those that the user considers of quality level sufficient for the analysis

Data Processing for Selected Data:

•Retrieve the calibrated data.