Browsing by Author "Coyner, Aaron J."
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Item Multi-wavelength analysis of solar transient phenomena(2009) Coyner, Aaron J.; Alexander, DavidSolar transient phenomena such as solar flares and coronal mass ejection are some of the most energetic and explosive phenomena affecting the solar environment. Emission signatures within solar flares provide direct insight into the physical mechanisms involved in the flaring process as well as the role the magnetic field topology plays in the energy release and particle transport within flares. Specifically, the work here addresses the temporal and spatial relationships between ultraviolet and hard X-ray flare emissions while also addressing the relationship between hard X-ray emission evolution in flares and the development of quasi-separatrix layers (QSLs) within the magnetic structure of the flaring region. As a final component, we address the implications of pre-event solar conditions such as magnetic configuration and flare productivity on the particle composition of solar energetic particle (SEP) events seen at 1AU. Specifically, we find that co-spatial and co-temporal UV and hard X-ray emission expected in 1-D loop flare models only account for a portion of the observed flare emission, and a complete explanation of the flaring process must take into account more complex and time-varying magnetic topologies along with contributions from multiple physical processes. Finally, we find, for particle events, that closed magnetic configurations at higher energies result in higher average Fe/O enhancements while the amount of open field and the active region appear to have no direct relationship to the observed SEP compositions.Item Temporal and spatial relationships between ultraviolet and hard X-ray emission in solar flares(2005) Coyner, Aaron J.; Alexander, DavidThe temporal and spatial relationships between hard X-ray and UV emission in solar flares provide stringent restrictions on the physical processes responsible for solar flare emission. In this thesis, we present results from a detailed analysis of temporal profiles and spatially resolved hard X-ray images from RHESSI alongside high cadence observations of the UV continuum from TRACE for two solar flares: A C6.5 flare from 16 July 2002 06:38--06:43 UT and an M8.5 flare from 17 July 2002 07:00--07:05 UT. For both flares we find a significant temporal correlation between the UV and hard X-ray emission over the duration of both events. In the spatial analysis for the 16 July 2002 event, we note a significant spatial separation between the correlated UV sources and their hard X-ray counterparts leading to a complex flare topology invoking loop-loop interactions. We suggest a three-dimensional reconnection scenario in an attempt to address the spatial discrepancy in the hard X-ray and UV correlated emission.