SDO/AIA science plan: prioritization and implementation: Five Objectives in 10 steps [session no.]1 I: C1/M8/C10 Transients: Drivers & Destabilization Chair(s): Golub & Nitta Status: [draft/review/final]

[session no.]2 Schedule 17 November 2005: draft sheets I, II to teams, requesting input for sheets III and IV 24 November 2005: completed sheets I-IV for review to teams, requesting input for sheets V-VI 8 December 2005: team input received for sheets V-VI 19 December 2005: draft of sheets VII-VIII to teams 9 January 2006: team comments received for sheets VII-VIII 6 February 2006: draft ‘Science plans’ on meeting website, with sheets IX-X filled out by team leads (or teams after telecons) February 2006: discussions during science team meeting discuss and complete pages IX-X. 17 February: completed ‘Science plans’ on line.

[session no.]3 II: Science questions and tasks (1) Primary scientific question: How does the magnetic field change due to eruptions?  What is the mapping of the low corona and the CME?  What is the relation between large-scale and active region magnetic fields in CME initiation? How are particles accelerated in the corona?  Are there multiple acceleration mechanisms?  What is the relation between particles precipitating into the low atmosphere and those escaping from the Sun?

[session no.]4 II: Science questions and tasks (2) SDO/AIA science tasks: Task [2]: Evolution of transients (Session C1/M8) Task [1]: Unstable field configurations and initiation of transients (Session C1/M8) Task [3]: Early evolution of CMEs  Detect first brightenings and motions.  Associate dimming regions with B and characterize CMEs. Task [4]: Particle acceleration  Find conjugate foot-points.  Detect shocks.  Study regions closer to the reconnection region.

[session no.]5 III: Science context (1) STEREO will provide better understanding of the link between Earth-directed halo CMEs and 1-2 MK coronal structures. By the time of SDO launch, the two STEREO spacecraft will be separated by ~90 degrees, and start to have good visibility of CMEs launched parallel to the Sun-Earth line. In combination with Solar-B/EIS and XRT, it will become possible to distinguish waves from ejections, and to understand the link between disturbances at 1-2 MK with those at high T.

[session no.]6 III: Science context (2) More and more realistic simulations will make it possible to understand eruptions in terms of physics. Combination of simulations of magnetic reconnection and flux emergence and cancellation will pin-point CME initiation mechanisms at least on an event by event basis. Combination of MHD and particle code simulations will show us likely locations of particle acceleration.

[session no.]7 III: Science context (3) [Where do we expect/plan to make SDO contribute most efficiently and substantially, because of SDO’s capabilities or timing?] SDO will clarify how important magnetic reconnection is in initiation and early evolution of CMEs because of broad temperature coverage and simultaneous observations of bremsstrahlung and magnetic field. SDO will show us the origin of coronal waves and dimming because of the broad temperature coverage, high time resolution and full-disk coverage.

[session no.]8 IV: Science investigation [Identify hurdles, bottlenecks, uncertainties]: Locating and characterizing the reconnection region is difficult because of its predicted low emission. Observing pre-eruption flux ropes can be tricky because of their possible low twists combined with projection effects. STEREO carries no magnetographs. After SOHO, the lack of coronagraphs at fixed view points (which STEREO does not have) will make it hard to associate the low corona with CMEs. After RHESSI, no high-energy instruments are available. In particular, we will have no information on ion acceleration, which is essential for understanding of particle acceleration.