We report on highlights of SOTERIA.solarobs.nce projects led by  OBSPARIS, in which we analyse observational signatures of several dynamic events 
in the corona and carry out MHD simulations reproducing the main aspects of the observed events. The cases include merging and reconfiguring 
filaments (20 Nov. 2003 and 19 May 2007),  conversion between twist and writhe helicities in erupting filaments and CMEs  (27 May 2002 and 
18 February 2003) and the rotation of a sunspot triggering a CME  (6 July 2006).  The latter study is in collaboration with UNIGRAZ and HVAR. 
We also present the new deliverable by OBSPARIS, a web page presenting SOTERIA modelling of observed solar dynamic phenomena, 
including some of the above cases as well as a study contributed by KU LEUVEN. This web page will serve as benchmark, tutorial, and information 
exchange platform for SOTERIA members.  We demonstrate our progress made with this new deliverable, i.e. the completion of the 2010 milestone.

5.
UNIGRAZ progress report
M. Temmer, A. Veronig, W. Hirtenfellner, W. Maierhofer, W. Pötzi, T. Rotter, A. Hanslmeier

(1)Department of Physics Centre of Excellence in Research, University of Oulu, Finland (UOulu)
(2)National Space Institute, Technical University of Denmark, Copenhagen, Denmark (DTU)

Low-altitude polar orbiting NOAA/POES satellites have measured fluxes of energetic particles nearly continuously from 1978 up to the present, covering almost three solar cycles. However, using these data for long-term studies includes several problems, most importantly due the significant degradation of the solid state detectors of the energetic particle (MEPED) instruments caused by radiation. This tends to increase the effective energy thresholds of the instrument, leading to underestimated particle fluxes already a couple of years after satellite launch. We have recently analyzed the radiation damage suffered by the MEPED instruments and calibrated the entire dataset for these effects, thus producing a reliable long-term data base of magnetospheric energetic particles.
Here we discuss the calibration procedure and present the corrected fluxes. We note that the corrected fluxes of energetic particles offer interesting opportunities to study the Earth's space environment. E.g., they can be used to estimate more reliably the structure and dynamics of the magnetospheric tail by measuring the so called isotropic boundary of energetic particles. The location of this boundary is known to be a good proxy of the tail electric current, reflecting the elongation of the tail during magnetospheric substorms and storms. We have used the isotropic boundary to study the dynamics of the auroral oval, as well as modeling the contribution of the tail current and other current systems to the corrected Dst index. We also compare the fluxes to the ground-based Dcx index (provided by UOulu) and the satellite based Dst index (provided by DTU) and discuss their relation.

20.
Ionospheric Scintillations: Their relationship to magnetic storms and the effect on technological systems
Y. Béniguel (1), F. Crespon (2), C. Skandrani (2), S. Vennerstrom (3)
(1) IEEA, Courbevoie, France
(2) Noveltis, Toulouse, France
(3) DTU, Copenhagen, Denmark

As a result of propagation through ionosphere electron density irregularities, transionospheric radio signals may experience amplitude and phase fluctuations. The.solarobs.tillation activity behaves differently with latitude. It is more intense at low latitudes (-20° to 20° magnetic latitude) and during periods of high solar activity. In this region, the signal fluctuations specially occur during equinoxes, after sunset, and last a few hours. Scintillation also occurs at high latitudes (> 60°) but with different characteristics and a reduced intensity. The magnetic field plays an important role which results in elongated bubbles in that direction and consequently in an anisotropic medium. At mid latitudes,.solarobs.tillation was only observed in the occurrence of magnetic storms. The medium’s drift velocity and its direction are also important parameters to be considered. These fluctuations result in signal degradation from VHF up to C band. The corresponding errors are the most prominent errors for Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS).
This paper will review the.solarobs.tillation characteristics, its relationship to the magnetic activity and the effect on communication and navigation systems. One model to estimate these.solarobs.tillation and their effects will be presented.

21.
Debrecen sunspot catalogue compilation, the side story
Lajos Gyori

A sunspot catalogue, as it can be guessed by its name, contains data of the sunspots (position, area, magnetic field, structure). Therefore, the main task of the catalogue compilation is to find the sunspots in solar images and determine the data characterizing them, possibly in an automatic way.  To make a catalogue complete we must gather the solar images from a wide
variety of observatories. These images are taken in different ways and their qualities are also different. Furthermore, the relevant informations needed when processing them are linked to them differently. Generally, while a solar image (especially a photoheliogram) and its relevant data  appears in the computer, it goes through a number of hands, which means several occasions to make errors. That, even in these circumstances, the catalogue should be compiled in an automated way as much as possible and should be highly reliable, several problems must be solved and the different steps of the processing must be continuously checked. Here we give a fortaste of these problems.

22.
Modeling field-aligned currents from single orbit magnetic data.
Freddy Christiansen and Susanne Vennerstrøm (DTU Space), and Francois Crespon (Noveltis)

We estimate field-aligned and ionospheric currents for a number of storm time events from magnetic data from single orbits of the two Low Earth Orbiting satellites, Oersted and Champ.
The field-aligned currents are parameterized as simple current segments of Region 0, Region 1, and Region 2 currents. Region 1 and 2 currents are described by 4 current segments each, dayside/nightside and dawn/dusk, while the Region 0 current is described by a single segment. Assuming ionospheric conductivities, the currents are closed in the ionosphere and the full magnetic perturbation from the field-aligned/ionospheric currents are fitted to the magnetic observations from the Oersted and Champ satellites.
Using maps of total electron content computed from GPS data to estimate the ionospheric conductivities we arrive at a snapshot of the near-earth current systems during magnetic storms that may be compared to conventional statistical appraches.
From the ionospheric currents and conductivities we compute the Joule heating of the ionosphere during storm time events.

23.
Long-term reconstructions of the Total Solar Irradiance (TSI)
L.E.A. Vieira, T. Dudok de Wit, M. Kretzschmar, G. Cessateur

The solar electromagnetic emission (the solar irradiance) is the main source of energy of the highly coupled geophysical system.  Space-based
observations of the solar irradiance proved that it is extremely variable. Furthermore, observations of several components of the solar atmosphere
have shown that the variability of the solar irradiance is closely related to the evolution of the structure of the solar magnetic field. Although
these observations have imposed constraints on the amplitude of the variability through the solar magnetic activity cycle, it was not possible
to assess long-term trends. Changes of the irradiance level on time-scales from decades to millennia affect directly the Earth’s climate, although
the level of these effects is still uncertain. In order to estimate the long-term evolution of the total (and spectral) solar irradiance, several
models have been developed. These models are based on the proxies of the evolution of the solar magnetic flux, such as the sunspot number and cosmogenic
isotopes recorded on natural archives. Here we revise the most recent reconstructions  of the solar irradiance that can be employed as realistic descriptions of the
external source of heat of the geophysical system for paleo-climate models.

24.
How is the solar spectral variability in the EUV related to features on the Sun ?
T. Dudok de Wit (LPC2E, Orléans), F. Goryaev (Lebedev Physical Inst., Moscow),
M. Kretzschmar (LPC2E, Orléans), J. Lilensten (LPG, Grenoble), J. Aboudarham (LESIA, Paris)

One of the main challenges with solar spectral irradiance is to understand what causes its variability. The contributions from features
such as plages and faculae are well understood. The recent and exceptionally long solar minimum, however, has shown that the classical
picture needs to be refined. In particular, it suggests that coronal holes may also play a significant role. This contribution is crucial for
assessing the long-term variability of the Sun.
We address this problem from a statistical point of view and apply a Bayesian blind source separation approach to 8 years of spectral
irradiance data from TIMED/SEE to investigate the causes of the variability. Since the method is empirical, there is no model bias. We
find that the variability in the EUV can be expressed in terms of three elementary spectra with differing time evolutions. A DEM analysis
reveals that one of the spectra indeed decribes the cool contribution from coronal holes while the two other ones decribe the quiet Sun and
active regions. It is remarkable that a statistical technique provides such new insight into the solar EUV irradiance. These results also
provide guidance for the definition of new solar proxies.

25.
What hemispheric and longitudinal asymmetries imply about the Sun and why are they important for the Earth’s space environment?
Kalevi Mursula(1), Ilpo Virtanen(1), Liyun Zhang(1,2), Ilya Usoskin(3), Timo Asikainen(1)
Andras Ludmany(4), Judit Murakozy(4)
(1)Department of Physics, University of Oulu, Finland (UOulu)
(2)Key Laboratory of Solar Activity, NAO, CAS, Beijing, China
(3)Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, University of Oulu, Finland
(4) Konkoly Observatory, Hungary (KO)


It is known since long that solar activity is unevenly distributed over the solar surface, both along the solar longitude and between the two solar hemispheres. Related studies of hemispheric and longitudinal asymmetries have been pursued for long, using different methods and different activity parameters. Unfortunately, these studies have so far remained at a rather marginal status due to the rather inconclusive and sporadic occurrence of the asymmetries.
However, it is known since recently that the solar hemispheric asymmetries depict systematic long-term patterns that have prevailed for more than a century. Also, using a dynamic reference frame, more significant longitudinal asymmetries have been found that are quite similar for different solar parameters. Also, solar longitudinal asymmetries depict systematic long-term patterns that seem to be common for all cool stars.
We review here these recent developments on solar hemispheric and longitudinal asymmetries and their role in improving our understanding solar activity and solar magnetic field generation. We also note that solar asymmetries affect the Earth’s space environment and that the newly found patterns allow the possibility to make better long-term forecasts of solar related disturbances in near-Earth space.

26.
Radiation belts effects on the functioning of the TESIS and SPHINX instruments on-board CORONAS-Photon and comparison of the measured data with the SPENVIS model predictions
S. Kuzin, V. Slemzin, A. Ulyanov, S. Bogachev, - LPI (Moscow, Russia) J. Sylwester, S. Gburek, P. Podgorski, M. Kowalinski - SRC PAN (Wroclaw, Poland)

Space instruments on LEO satellites work under the impact of various environmental factors, which should be taken into account to prevent
distortion of the observational data and gradual degradation of the payload. For solar imaging telescopes and photometers the most
important factor is the radiation of energetic particles which produce a spontaneous background in the detectors.
The influence of such radiation on  instrument operation can be estimated with the use of the space environment models. These models
are embedded in dedicated software and available via standalone or the Internet interfaces like, for instance, SPENVIS interface. Obtained
from models estimations of the particle impact on the instrumentation are useful for designing necessary shielding at the instrument
development phase.
The report describes radiation effects observed in the TESIS and SphinX instrument data. Issues related to construction of both
instruments are addressed as well. The instruments operated for nine months (February – November, 2009) on-board CORONAS-Photon satellite
(LEO spacecraft). In addition to solar X-ray flux the instruments registered time-and space-dependent signal produced mainly by charged particles.
 An analysis of this particle signal is performed. The analysis results are compared to the results obtained from simulations in
SPENVIS. In particular, it was found that the spatial distribution of the TESIS particle-produced signal covers the region of the South Atlantic
Anomaly (SAA), so TESIS was mostly sensitive to protons. The spatial distribution of the SphinX particle signal had enhancements in SAA and
in the polar ovals, what corresponds to SphinX detector sensitivity to protons as well as to electrons. The mean total dose of the energetic
particles accumulated by the TESIS detectors during one day of flight per one pixel was found to be well agreed with the SPENVIS dose
estimations.

27.
Status of SWAP and LYRA data
David Berghmans

PROBA2 was launched successfully in November last year. The commissioning phase of spacecraft and instrument ended in March 2010. Here we present the current status of the two solar instruments onboard, SWAP and LYRA. SWAP is an EUV imager of the solar corona and LYRA is a UV radiometer. Special attention will be given to the currently available data products.