Project title: Multi-Wavelength Study of Quasi-Periodic Pulsations in Solar and Stellar Flares/Vairāku viļņu garuma kvaziperiodisku pulsāciju pētījums Saules un zvaigžņu uzliesmojumos
Project No.: lzp-2022/1-0017
Project acronym: STEF
Project logo:
Funder: Latvian Science Council, Fundamental and Applied Research Projects
Project submitter: Ventspils University of Applied Sciences (VUAS)
Project scientific supervisor: VUAS leading guest researcher Valeri Nakariakov
Duration: 01.01.2023. – 31.12.2025. (36 months, 3 reference periods)
Brief Qualitative Description and Aim of the Project:
Nowadays, research into the impact of space weather on the near-Earth environment, climate change, technology and other diverse aspects of modern human life is becoming increasingly important. Solar flares , which release coronal magnetic field energy, and coronal mass ejections are the major drivers of space weather and therefore have the most severe effects on the Earth's magnetosphere and near-Earth environment. It is evident that similar flare activity occurs on other solar-type stars, in the form of much more powerful superflares.
The project’s research programme focuses on a comprehensive multi-wavelength comparative observational study of the phenomenon of quasi-periodic pulsations (QPP), as signatures of oscillatory plasma dynamics, in the radio emission produced by solar flares and stellar superflares with the observational facilities at the Ventspils International Radio Astronomy Centre (VIRAC), Irbene, Latvia, in collaboration with colleagues from the University of Warwick, United Kingdom. The key aim is to establish a robust methodology for observing solar flares and stellar superflares in the radio band at VIRAC, reveal differences and similarities in the radio emission mechanisms of solar and stellar flares, and of characteristic properties of QPPs, and seed the ground for future follow up studies of solar and stellar flares in collaboration with radio observatories worldwide. Radioastronomical observations will be carried out in both polarisations in the 4.5-8.8 GHz band corresponding to the typical gyrosynchrotron emission in the solar corona, with Irbene radiotelescopes RT-32 and RT-16 in both single dish and interferometer modes. The stellar objects of interest are highly active flaring red dwarfs. The detection and analysis of QPP in light curves will be carried out with the use of the combination of traditional and innovative time-series analysis techniques, such as wavelets and Empirical Mode Decomposition. The expertise in the background theory and original approaches to data analysis is provided by the UK participants. The forward modelling of expected observables will be performed with the use of existing and well-tested numerical codes.
Key project tasks:
Project results:
The expected project results will allow us to develop a unique research cluster at VIRAC, capable of performing observational and data analysis studies of solar flares and stellar superflares, at the level competitive with and/or supplementing the existing radio-band facilities. As a particular phenomenon of interest, intrinsic for both solar and stellar flare emissions, characteristic properties of QPP in the radio band will be revealed and used for establishing differences and similarities between physical mechanisms of solar flares and stellar superflares.
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Our project will deliver:
Project funding: 300 000.00 EUR
Contacts:
Project PI – Prof Valeri Nakariakov, V.Nakariakov@warwick.ac.uk
Project researcher - MSc Vladislavs Bezrukovs, vladislavs.bezrukovs@venta.lv
Project coordinator for administrative matters - until 01.03.2024. Ieva Kozlova, ieva.kozlova@venta.lv
from 01.03.2024. Linda Ūdre, linda.udre@venta.lv