SHILLELAgh: A data-driven solar wind model for studying solar energetic particle events

A poster for the SHINE Conference 2013 in Buford Georgia.

Solarwind-Heliosperic Imaging in Latitude and Longitude by Estimating Large-scale Attributes (SHILLELAgh) is a method for estimating the properties of the solar wind in the equatorial plane. OMNI and STEREO in situ solar wind data is used as input. The solar wind is assumed to propagate radially at a constant velocity and the corona is assumed to remain static. An empirical density model is applied to the ballistically propagated solar wind. A 2D map of solar wind properties is obtained that is well suited for use in investigations of heliospheric features that are constrained to Parker spirals (e.g., co-rotating interaction regions). In this work, the propagation of solar energetic particle (SEP) events is investigated using the model. Our method provides a convenient vehicle for assessing the directionality and hence, the geo-effectiveness of SEP events.