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2006

Physical Sciences and Mathematics

Theses and Dissertations

Air Force Institute of Technology

Solar flares

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Modeling E & F Region Ionospheric Response To X-Ray Solar Flares, Annette M. Parsons Mar 2006

Modeling E & F Region Ionospheric Response To X-Ray Solar Flares, Annette M. Parsons

Theses and Dissertations

This research takes an existing ionospheric model and modifies it to include the effects of solar flare activity. Solar flares are a localized explosive release of magnetic energy that appears as a sudden, short-lived brightening in the sun’s chromosphere. This additional energy is deposited in the earth’s ionosphere, temporarily changing its properties, which can affect military communications. Studying the effects of moderate solar flares will improve our understanding of the ionosphere’s response, leading to better operational models. Modification of the model is accomplished by adding a flare irradiance model to represent solar irradiance changes due to a flare. The irradiance …


Prediction Of The Temporal Evolution Of Solar X-Ray Flares, Aaron J. Williams Mar 2006

Prediction Of The Temporal Evolution Of Solar X-Ray Flares, Aaron J. Williams

Theses and Dissertations

A solar flare is an explosive release of stored magnetic energy on the Sun. Much of this energy is converted into x-ray photons which escape into space. As a solar flare begins, the 1-8 Å x-ray photon flux at Earth’s orbit, as measured by the GOES satellite, rapidly increases. It quickly reaches a peak and slowly decays. A plot of this flux exhibits an approximate lognormal shape. A lognormal function becomes a normal, symmetric, function when the logarithm of the independent variable is taken. Once the peak flux is reached, this symmetry is used to make a prediction of the …