Project description
Shining a light on solar energetic particle events
Solar energetic particles (SEP) are high-energy particles coming from the Sun. They are of particular interest because they are a significant radiation hazard to spacecraft outside the shielding provided by Earth's magnetic field. The EU-funded SERPENTINE project aims to answer several outstanding questions regarding what triggers SEP events and provide an advanced platform for data analysis and visualisation that can benefit the wider heliophysics community. The project will leverage high-level data stemming from the most recent European and United States missions, such as ESA's Solar Orbiter and BepiColombo and NASA's Parker Solar Probe. Furthermore, it will exploit data from several missions at low Earth orbits and ground-based radio imaging and spectroscopic observations from the Low Frequency Array (LOFAR) telescope in the Netherlands.
Objective
The SERPENTINE project will answer several outstanding questions about the origin of Solar Energetic Particle (SEP) events and provides an advanced platform for the analysis and visualization of high-level datasets to benefit the wider heliophysics community. We exploit the unique opportunity provided by the unprecedented fleet of spacecraft currently in the inner heliosphere. The key data comes from the most recent European and US missions, i.e. Solar Orbiter, Parker Solar Probe and BepiColombo, which have opened completely new avenues to investigate SEPs, with supporting data from several current missions at Earth's orbit as well as ground-based radio imaging and spectroscopic observations with the European Low Frequency Array (LOFAR). In particular, we will focus on unravelling the causes of currently poorly understood large gradual and widespread SEP events. These events also pose the greatest radiation risk to spacecraft outside the shielding provided by Earth’s magnetic field, having thus major importance for the European space weather capabilities. Our platform is expected to significantly foster the further exploitation of the data from European space-borne and ground-based instrumentation and interactions between different communities during and after the project period. This strategic program will, therefore, provide a strong foundation for enhancing European lead and future investments in this field. The SERPENTINE beneficiaries consist of six teams from five European countries who all are at the forefront of their respective fields and provide complementary expertise and skills to the project.
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Programme(s)
Funding Scheme
RIA - Research and Innovation actionCoordinator
20014 Turku
Finland