In 1966, the Proton Flare Project focused international observatories on a solar-observing campaign for several months to try to understand the phenomena.Įnglish et al. With the new understanding came the realization that both human and robotic explorers would be susceptible to the effects of radiation. A decade after Forbush, concerted efforts to understand the space environment as part of the International Geophysical Year led to expanded observations of solar energetic particles (SEPs) from balloons and spacecraft. He observed three separate enhancements in ground-based measurements of the cosmic radiation background, and he put forth the idea that the charged particle increases might be from the Sun. The first report that the Sun could produce and release energetic particles was made by Forbush. We discuss how a conceptual CME-based warning system relates to other techniques, including an estimate of the relative SEP warning times, and how such a system might be realized. The January 2016 event provided favorable CME viewing geometry and demonstrated that the primary component of a prototype ground-based system for SEP warnings is available several hours on most days. The near-real-time availability of the high-cadence K-Cor observations in the low corona leads to an obvious question: “Why has no one attempted to use a coronagraph as an early warning device for SEP events?” The answer is that the low image cadence and the long latency of existing spaceborne coronagraphs make them valid for archival studies but typically unsuitable for near-real-time forecasting.

The CME was detected by the ground-based K-Cor coronagraph at Mauna Loa Solar Observatory and by the SOHO Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph. The 1 January 2016, fast CME, and its associated SEP event are cited as an example. We report here the concept of using near-real time observations from a coronagraph to provide early warning of a fast coronal mass ejection (CME) and the possible onset of a solar energetic particle (SEP) event.

Sun corona vector