• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.30 no.2
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• pp.101-106
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• 2013

The length of solar cycle 23 has been prolonged up to about 13 years. Many studies have speculated that the solar cycle 23/24 minimum will indicate the onset of a grand minimum of solar activity, such as the Maunder Minimum. We check the trends of solar (sunspot number, solar magnetic fields, total solar irradiance, solar radio flux, and frequency of solar X-ray flare), interplanetary (interplanetary magnetic field, solar wind and galactic cosmic ray intensity), and geomagnetic (Ap index) parameters (SIG parameters) during solar cycles 21-24. Most SIG parameters during the period of the solar cycle 23/24 minimum have remarkably low values. Since the 1970s, the space environment has been monitored by ground observatories and satellites. Such prevalently low values of SIG parameters have never been seen. We suggest that these unprecedented conditions of SIG parameters originate from the weakened solar magnetic fields. Meanwhile, the deep 23/24 solar cycle minimum might be the portent of a grand minimum in which the global mean temperature of the lower atmosphere is as low as in the period of Dalton or Maunder minimum.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.49 no.1
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• pp.19-23
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• 2016

Magnetic decreases are often observed in various regions of interplanetary space. Many studies are devoted to reveal the physical nature and generation mechanism of the magnetic decreases, but still we do not fully understand magnetic decreases. In this study, we investigate the structure of a magnetic decrease observed in a corotating interaction region using multi-spacecraft measurements. We use three spacecraft, ACE, Cluster, and Wind, which were widely separated in the x- and y-directions in the geocentric solar ecliptic (GSE) coordinates. The boundaries of the magnetic decrease are the same at the three locations and can be identified as tangential discontinuities. A notable feature is that the magnetic decrease has very large dimension, ≳ R_E, along the boundary, which is much larger than the size, ~ 6 R_E, along the normal direction. This suggests that the magnetic decrease has a shape of a long, thin rod or a wide slab.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.50 no.2
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• pp.29-39
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• 2017

We investigate two abnormal CME-Storm pairs that occurred on 2014 September 10 - 12 and 2015 March 15 - 17, respectively. The first one was a moderate geomagnetic storm ($Dst_{min}{\sim}-75nT$) driven by the X1.6 high speed flare-associated CME ($1267km\;s^{-1}$) in AR 12158 (N14E02) near solar disk center. The other was a very intense geomagnetic storm ($Dst_{min}{\sim}-223nT$) caused by a CME with moderate speed ($719km\;s^{-1}$) and associated with a filament eruption accompanied by a weak flare (C9.1) in AR 12297 (S17W38). Both CMEs have large direction parameters facing the Earth and southward magnetic field orientation in their solar source region. In this study, we inspect the structure of Interplanetary Flux Ropes (IFRs) at the Earth estimated by using the torus fitting technique assuming self-similar expansion. As results, we find that the moderate storm on 2014 September 12 was caused by small-scale southward magnetic fields in the sheath region ahead of the IFR. The Earth traversed the portion of the IFR where only the northward fields are observed. Meanwhile, in case of the 2015 March 17 storm, our IFR analysis revealed that the Earth passed the very portion where only the southward magnetic fields are observed throughout the passage. The resultant southward magnetic field with long-duration is the main cause of the intense storm. We suggest that 3D magnetic field geometry of an IFR at the IFR-Earth encounter is important and the strength of a geomagnetic storm is strongly affected by the relative location of the Earth with respect to the IFR structure.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.46.1-46.1
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• 2010

This work is a part of our project to establish a Website which provides a list of magnetic clouds (MCs) identified by WIND and ACE spacecraft. MCs are characterized by their magnetic fields that are well described by magnetic flux rope structures, whereas interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICMEs) are interplanetary manifestations of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), usually identified by differences of plasma and magnetic field characteristics from those in the background solar wind. It is widely accepted that, while MCs are generally identified within ICMEs, the number of MCs are significantly lower than the number of ICMEs. In our effort to identify MCs, however, we have found that there was a big problem in identification method of MCs in previous works. Generally speaking, most of the previous surveys failed in identifying MCs which encounter the spacecraft at large distances from the MC axis, or near the surface of MC structures. In our survey, MCs are identified as the region of which magnetic fields are well described by appropriate flux rope models. Thus, we could selected over 45 MCs, in 1999 solar wind data for instance, while 33 ICMEs are listed in the Website of the ACE Science Center reported by Richardson and Cane.

• Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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• 2003.10a
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• pp.34-34
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• 2003

To better understand how high-latitude electric fields influence thermospheric dynamics, we study winds in the high-latitude lower thermosphere using the Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Electrodynamics General Circulation Model of the National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR/TIEGCM). In order to compare with Wind Imaging Interferometer (WINDII) observations the model is run for the conditions of 1992-1993 southern summer. The association of the model results with the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is also examined to determine the influences of the IMF-dependent ionospheric convection on the winds. The wind patterns show good agreement with the WINDII observations, although the model wind speeds are generally weaker than the observations. It is confirmed that the influences of high-latitude ionospheric convection on summertime thermospheric winds are seen down to 105 km. For negative and positive IMF By the difference winds, with respect to the wind during null IMF conditions, show significantly strong anticyclonic and cyclonic vortices, respectively, down to 105 km. For positive IMF Bz the difference winds are largely confined to the polar cap, while for negative IMF Bz they extend to subauroral latitudes. The IMF Bz-dependent diurnal wind component is strongly correlated with the corresponding component of ionospheric convection velocity down to 108 km and is largely rotational. The influence of IMF By on the lower thermospheric summertime zonal-mean zonal wind is substantial at high latitudes, with maximum wind speeds being 60 m/s at 130 km around 77 magnetic latitude.

• Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.49 no.2
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• pp.59-64
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• 2016

In this study, we investigate the kinetic properties of magnetic decreases observed in the solar wind at ~1 AU using the Cluster observations. We study two different magnetic decreases: one with a short observation duration of ~2.5 minutes and stable structure and the other with a longer observation duration of ~40 minutes and some fluctuations and substructures. Despite the contrast in durations and magnetic structures, the velocity space distributions of ions are similar in both events. The velocity space distribution becomes more anisotropic along the direction parallel to the magnetic field, which differs from observations obtained at high heliographic latitudes. On the other hand, electrons show different features from the ions. The core component of the electrons shows similar anisotropy to the ions, though the anisotropy is much weaker. However, while ions are heated in the magnetic decreases, the core electrons are slightly cooled, especially in the perpendicular direction. The halo component does not change much in the magnetic decreases from the ambient solar wind. The strahl component is observed only in one of the magnetic decreases. The results imply that the ions and electrons in the magnetic decreases can behave differently, which should be considered for the formation mechanism of the magnetic decreases.

• International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics Korean Journal of Geophysical Research
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• v.22 no.1
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• pp.6-23
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• 1994

A disconnection event (DE) of the cometary plasma tail is one of most spectacular phenomena observed in comets. Yet, for years it has remained one of the great unsolved problems I astronomy and space physics. The solar wind is thought to play a major role in the creation of comet plasma tail (type Ⅰ) disconnection events. The goal of this paper is to present a mechanism that explains the disconnection event in terms of the local conditions at the comet. Comparison of the solar wind conditions and 16 DEs in Halley's comet shows that DEs are associated primarily with crossings of the heliospheric sector boundary and apparently not with any other properties of the solar wind, such as a high speed stream[Yi et al., 1994]. A 3-dimensional resistive magnetohydrodynamic simulation in this paper supports this association by showing that only front-side magnetic reconnection between the reversed interplanetary magnetic fields that exist when a comet crosses the heliospheric sector boundary [Niedner and Brandt, 1978] could reproduce the morphology of a DE, including ray formation [Brandt, 1982].

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.37 no.2
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• pp.129.2-129.2
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• 2012

Solar flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are two major solar eruptive phenomena which can cause enormous economic and commercial losses: (1) flares are sudden, rapid, and intense brightenings from radio waves to Gamma-rays in the chromosphere and corona, and (2) CMEs are large-scale transient eruptions of magnetized plasma from the solar corona that propagate outward into interplanetary space. Most flares and CMEs occur in magnetically complicated solar active regions (ARs). Therefore, it is crucial to investigate magnetic fields in ARs and their temporal variations for understanding a precondition and a trigger mechanism related to flare/CME initiation. In this presentation, we will introduce an automated system for empirical forecasting of flares and CMEs in ARs using full-disk photospheric line-of-sight magnetogram data taken by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the SDO.

• The Bulletin of The Korean Astronomical Society
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• v.35 no.2
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• pp.46.2-46.2
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• 2010

A magnetosonic wave is a longitudinal wave propagating perpendicularly to the magnetic fields and involves compression and rarefaction of the plasma. Lee and Kim (2000) investigated the theoretical solution for the evolution of nonlinear magnetosonic waves in the homogeneous space which adopt the approach of simple waves. We confirm the solution using a one-dimensional MHD code with Total Variation Diminishing (TVD) scheme. Then we apply the solution for the solar wind profiles. We examined the properties of nonlinear waves for the various initial perturbations at near the Lagrangian (L1) point. Also we describe waves steepening process while the shock is being formed by assuming different timescales for a driving source.

• Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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• v.25 no.1
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• pp.33-42
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• 2008

By analyzing the observations from a number of ground- and space-based instruments, including ionosonde, magnetometers, and ACE interplanetary data, we examine the response of the ionospheric TEC over Korea during 2003 magnetic storms. We found that the variation of vertical TEC is correlated with the southward turning of the interplanetary magnetic field $B_z$. It is suggested that the electric fields produced by the dynamo process in the high-latitude region and the prompt penetration in the low- latitude region are responsible for TEC increases. During the June 16 event, dayside TEC values increase more than 15%. And the ionospheric F2-layer peak height (hmF2) was ${\sim}300km$ higher and the vertical $E{\times}B$ drift (estimated from ground-based magnetometer equatorial electrojet delta H) showed downward drift, which may be due to the ionospheric disturbance dynamo electric field produced by the large amount of energy dissipation into high-latitude regions. In contrast, during November 20 event, the nightside TEC increases may be due to the prompt penetration westward electric field. The ionospheric F2-layer peak height was below 200km and the vertical $E{\times}B$ drift showed downward drift. Also, a strong correlation is observed between enhanced vertical TEC and enhaaced interplanetary electric field. It is shown that, even though TEC increases are caused by the different processes, the electric field disturbances in the ionosphere play an important role in the variation of TEC over Korea.