Monty Spencer to Present Thesis Proposal on Oct. 13th
Space Studies master’s student, Earl (Monty) Spencer, will give his thesis proposal presentation as follows. All Space Studies students and faculty are encouraged to attend.
When: Thursday, October 13th at 2:00 p.m.
Where: Ryan Hall, Room 111
Title: A Comparison of Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) Imagery in the Forecasting of Coronal Hole High Speed Streams
About the topic: Coronal holes (CHs) are areas where open magnetic field lines emanate from the surface of the Sun expanding out to interplanetary space. They can be identified as reduced emissivity in the upper chromosphere and lower corona in extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and X-ray wavelengths. High speed solar wind streams (HSS) originate from these features and are responsible for heightened geomagnetic activity at Earth. HSSs can be forecasted through accurate determination of the boundaries and extent of CHs. However, it is not well known if different imagery could be better utilized at different times during the solar cycle. For this study, 10 coronal holes are being evaluated from 2010-2016 using EUV imagery at 304 Å, 193 Å, and 211 Å from NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The study tries to follow the full evolution of each CH, which encompasses the majority of Solar Cycle 24. CH boundaries are determined through hand-drawn analysis. Arrival times and expansion factors will be compared.
About the presenter: Monty Spencer is a distance learning student pursuing a MS in Space Studies at the University of North Dakota. He is originally from Wilmington, NC and holds an AS in Marine Technology from Cape Fear Community College and a BA in Environmental Studies from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington. From 2002-2009 he was an officer in the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administrations Commissioned Corps. During his tenure there, he worked on several research ships in both the Atlantic and Pacific. Since 2010, he has worked as a space weather forecaster for the NWS Space Weather Prediction Center. SWPCs mission is to provide 24/7 surveillance and forecasts of solar events that could potentially cause disruptions to communications, power grids, GPS, and space based systems.
******Those unable to attend in person may view the live webcast******
1) A live webcast which includes PowerPoint slides will be available here. Please note: this option is currently not operational on portable devices/tablets.
2) Via Adobe ConnectPro. Sign in as a guest, or use your Connect-Pro log-in.