Alexandros Hillaris

Aims. We investigated the transport of solar energetic particles (SEPs) during the relativistic widespread event of 28 October 2021, quantifying the role of parallel and perpendicular diffusion and constraining the spatial extent of the injection region. Methods. We employed inverse modeling of particle focused transport and 2D numerical simulations including cross-field diffusion. Multi-spacecraft observations from STEREO-A, Solar Orbiter, and near-Earth spacecraft are used to reproduce particle intensity profiles and anisotropies across a wide range of electron and proton energies. Simulated flux profiles are compared across different heliolongitudes to derive consistent transport parameters. Results. The analysis yields parallel mean free paths within or slightly above the Palmer consensus range, and perpendicular mean free paths that correspond to ∼1–3% of parallel for electrons and ∼5–10% for protons. The injection region is found to be relatively narrow (≤20°), and decreasing with particle rigidity. Multipoint simulations indicate that the observed flux and anisotropy profiles can only be reproduced by a narrow injection region and significant cross-field diffusion. Electron and proton release times align well with the parent X1.0 flare and associated coronal mass injection (CME) onset, indicating that a compact acceleration region coupled with efficient interplanetary diffusion governed the event’s broad spatial extent.

Radio bursts provide important diagnostics of energetic phenomena of the Sun. In particular, bursts in decimetric and metric wavelengths probe the physical conditions and the energy release processes in the low corona as well as their association with heliospheric phenomena. The advent of spectral radio data with high time and high frequency resolution has provided a wealth of information on phenomena of short duration and narrow bandwidth. Of particular value are spectral data combined with imaging observations at specific frequencies. In this work we briefly review the results of a series of observations comprised from high-sensitivity, low-noise dynamic spectra obtained with the acousto-optic analyzer (SAO) of the ARTEMIS-IV/JLS solar radiospectrograph, in conjunction with high time-resolution images from the Nançay Radioheliograph (NRH). Our studies include fine structures embedded in type-IV burst continua (mostly narrow-band “spikes” and intermediate drift “fiber” bursts) and spike-like structures detected near the front of type-II bursts. The implications of the observational results to theoretical models are discussed.

Radio bursts provide important diagnostics of energetic phenomena of the Sun. In particular, bursts in decimetric and metric wavelengths probe the physical conditions and the energy release processes in the low corona as well as their association with heliospheric phenomena. The advent of spectral radio data with high time and high frequency resolution has provided a wealth of information on phenomena of short duration and narrow bandwidth. Of particular value are spectral data combined with imaging observations at specific frequencies. In this work we briefly review the results of a series of observations comprised from high-sensitivity, low-noise dynamic spectra obtained with the acousto-optic analyzer (SAO) of the ARTEMIS-IV/JLS solar radiospectrograph, in conjunction with high time-resolution images from the Nançay Radioheliograph (NRH). Our studies include fine structures embedded in type IV burst continua (mostly narrow-band "spikes" and intermediate drift "fiber" bursts) and spike-like structures detected near the front of type-II bursts. The implications of the observational results to theoretical models are discussed.

Context.Narrowband bursts (spikes) are very small duration and bandwidth bursts which appear on dynamic spectra from microwave to decametric frequencies. They are believed to be manifestations of small-scale energy release through magnetic reconnection.Aims.We study the position of the spike-like structures relative to the front of type-II bursts and their role in the burst emission.Methods.We used high-sensitivity, low-noise dynamic spectra obtained with the acousto-optic analyzer (SAO) of the ARTEMIS-JLS solar radiospectrograph, in conjunction with high-time-resolution images from the Nançay Radioheliograph (NRH) in order to study spike-like bursts near the front of a type-II radio burst recorded at the west limb during the November 3, 2003 extreme solar event. The spike-like emission in the dynamic spectrum was enhanced by means of high-pass-time filtering.Results.We identified a number of spikes in the NRH images. Due to the lower temporal resolution of the NRH, multiple spikes detected in the dynamic spectrum appeared as single structures in the images. These spikes had an average size of ≈200″ and their observed brightness temperature was 1.4 to 5.6 × 10⁹K, providing a significant contribution to the emission of the type-II burst front. At variance with a previous study on the type-IV associated spikes, we found no systematic displacement between the spike emission and the emission between spikes. At 327.0 MHz, the type II emission was located about 0.3R_⊙above the pre-existing continuum emission, which, in turn, was located 0.1R_⊙above the western limb.Conclusions.This study, combined with our previous results, indicates that the spike-like chains aligned along the type II burst MHD shock front are not a perturbation of the type II emission, as in the case of type IV spikes, but a manifestation of the type II emission itself. The preponderance of these chains, together with the lack of isolated structures or irregular clusters, points towards some form of small-scale magnetic reconnection, organized along the type-II propagating front.

Geospace disturbances refer collectively to the variations of the geomagnetic field and the trapped particle populations in the near-Earth space. These are the result of transient and recurrent solar activity, which consequently drives the variable solar wind. They may appear in multiple timescales, from sub-seconds to days, months and years. Wavelet analysis is one of the most popular, and powerful, methods in the study of these variations, as it allows for the local decomposition of non-stationary time series in frequency (or time-scale) and time simultaneously. This article is a review of the wavelet methods used in the investigation of geomagnetic field oscillations, which underlines their advantages as spectral analysis methods and demonstrates their utilization in the interdependence of multiple time-series. Lastly, the proper methodology for the accurate estimation of the power inferred from geophysical signals, applicable in quantitative studies, is included and is publicly available at the database of the University of Athens.

We have studied a complex metric radio event which originated in a compact flare, observed with the ARTEMIS-JLS radiospectro-graph on February 12, 2010. The event was associated with a surge observed at 195 and 304 {\AA} and with a coronal mass ejection observed by instruments on-board STEREO A and B near the East and West limbs respectively. On the disk the event was observed at 10 frequencies by the Nancay Radioheliograph, in Ha by the Catania observatory, in soft x-rays by GOES SXI and Hinode XRT and in hard x-rays by RHESSI. We combined these data, together with MDI longitudinal magnetograms, to get as complete a picture of the event as possible. Our emphasis is on two type-II bursts that occurred near respective maxima in the GOES light curves. The first, associated with the main peak of the event, showed an impressive F-H structure, while the emission of the second consisted of three well-separated bands with superposed pulsations. Using positional information for the type-IIs from the NRH and triangulation from STEREO A and B, we found that the type IIs were associated neither with the surge nor with the disruption of a nearby streamer, but rather with an EUV wave probably initiated by the surge. The fundamental-harmonic structure of the first type II showed a band split corresponding to a magnetic field strength of 18G, a frequency ratio of 1.95 and a delay of 0.23-0.65s of the fundamental with respect to the harmonic; moreover it became stationary shortly after its start and then drifted again. The pulsations superposed on the second type II were broadband and had started before the burst. In addition, we detected another pulsating source, also before the second type II, polarized in the opposite sense; the pulsations in the two sources were out of phase and hence hardly detectable in the dynamic spectrum. The pulsations had a measurable reverse frequency drift of about 2/s.

Aims. We examined the characteristics of isolated intermediate drift bursts and their morphologies on dynamic spectra, in particular the positioning of emission and absorption ridges. Furthermore we studied the repetition rate of fiber groups. These were compared with a model in order to determine the conditions under which the intermediate drift bursts appear and exhibit the above characteristics. Methods. We analyzed sixteen metric type IV events with embedded intermediate drift bursts, observed with the Artemis–JLS radio spectrograph from July 1999 to July 2005 plus an event on 1st August 2010. The events were recorded with the SAO high resolution (10 ms cadence) receiver in the 270–450 MHz range with a frequency resolution of 1.4 MHz. We developed cross- and autocorrelation techniques to measure the duration, spectral width, and frequency drift of fiber bursts in 47 intermediate drift bursts (IMD) groups embedded within the continuum of the sixteen events mentioned above. We also developed a semi-automatic algorithm to track fibers on dynamic spectra. Results. The mean duration of individual fiber bursts at fixed frequency was δt ≈ 300 ms, while the instantaneous relative bandwidth was f_w/f ≈ 0.90% and the total frequency extent was Δf_tot ≈ 35 MHz. The recorded intermediate drift bursts had frequency drift, positive or negative, with average values of df/fdt equal to −0.027 and 0.024 s⁻¹ respectively. Quite often the fibers appeared in groups; the burst repetition rate within groups was, on average, ∼0.98 s. We distinguish six morphological groups of fibers, based on the relative position of the emission and absorption ridges. These included fibers with emission or absorption ridges only, fibers with the absorption ridge at lower or higher frequency than the emission, or with two absorption ridges above and below the emission. There were also some fibers for which two emission ridges were separated by an absorption ridge. Some additional complex groups within our data set were not easy to classify. A number of borderline cases of fibers with very high drift rate (∼0.30 s⁻¹) or very narrow total bandwidth (∼8 MHz) were recorded; among them there was a group of rope-like fibers characterized by fast repetition rate and relatively narrow total frequency extent. We found that the whistler hypothesis leads to reasonable magnetic field values (∼4.6 G), while the Alfven-wave hypothesis requires much higher field. From the variation of the drift rate with time we estimated the ratio of the whistler to the cyclotron frequency, x, to be in the range of 0.3−0.6, varying by ∼0.05−0.1 in individual fibers; the same analysis gives an average value of the frequency scale along the loop of ∼220 Mm. Finally, we present empirical relations between fiber burst parameters and discuss their possible origin.

Aims. We examine high time resolution dynamic spectra for fine structures in type II solar radio bursts Methods. We used data obtained with the acousto-optic spectrograph receiver of the Artemis-JLS (ARTEMIS-IV) solar radio spectrograph in the 450–270 MHz range at 10 ms cadence and identified more than 600 short, narrowband features. Their characteristics, such as instantaneous relative bandwidth and total duration were measured and compared with those of spikes embedded in type IV emissions. Results. Type II associated spikes occur mostly in chains inside or close to the slowly drifting type II emission. These spikes coexist with herringbone and pulsating structures. Their average duration is 96 ms and their average relative bandwidth 1.7%. These properties are not different from those of type IV embedded spikes. It is therefore possible that they are signatures of small-scale reconnection along the type II shock front.