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For integrating CME data to their solar sources, we perform a confidence-based scoring process that involves spatial and temporal data integration. For each GOES >C1.0 flare, we identify the likely CME candidate(s) with a temporal search using the start and peak times of flares and first detection time of CMEs. In this step, we check if the CMEs’ first detection time is between 30 minutes before the flare’s start time and 60 minutes after the flare’s peak time. Then, for each potential CME candidate, if any, we generate a confidence score between 1 to 5 (from lowest to highest) based on checking four additional criteria where each criteria gives an extra confidence point for the association: 1. Determine a potential one-to-one mapping between a given flare and a CME, in the case of only a single CME that satisfies the temporal search. 2. Check if the flare’s principal angle is in the same solar-disk quadrant as the CME’s principal angle, which is assumed as a 8 degree margin for boundary conditions. 3. Check if the difference between the flare’s principal angle and the CME’s principal angle (i.e., difference angle) is less than the CME’s observed width. 4. Check if the difference angle is less than 60 degrees threshold where such threshold is designated for wide CMEs (i.e., Halo and partial Halo) whose width almost always fulfill the width-based criterion in the previous criteria and aims to provide a more strict level of confidence. At the end of the integration procedure, CMEs are associated with flares using the maximum confidence score and therefore are connected to their most likely solar source. If there are multiple CMEs with the same high score, only those with the lowest difference angle between flare and the CME will be connected. Due to the fact that this process is not manually verified, we expect to generate certain ‘noisy’ data points. However, for overall model building, these data points should have a minimal statistical significance and hence a minimal impact.
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This content will become publicly available on February 25, 2026
Prediction of Halo Coronal Mass Ejections Using SDO/HMI Vector Magnetic Data Products and a Transformer Model
Abstract We present a transformer model, named DeepHalo, to predict the occurrence of halo coronal mass ejections (CMEs). Our model takes as input an active region (AR) and a profile, where the profile contains a time series of data samples in the AR that are collected 24 hr before the beginning of a day, and predicts whether the AR would produce a halo CME during that day. Each data sample contains physical parameters, or features, derived from photospheric vector magnetic field data taken by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager on board the Solar Dynamics Observatory. We survey and match CME events in the Space Weather Database Of Notification, Knowledge, Information and the Large Angle and Spectrometric Coronagraph CME Catalog, and we compile a list of CMEs, including halo CMEs and nonhalo CMEs, associated with ARs in the period between 2010 November and 2023 August. We use the information gathered above to build the labels (positive vs. negative) of the data samples and profiles at hand, where the labels are needed for machine learning. Experimental results show that DeepHalo with a true skill statistic (TSS) score of 0.907 outperforms a closely related long short-term memory network with a TSS score of 0.821. To our knowledge, this is the first time that the transformer model has been used for halo CME prediction.
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- PAR ID:
- 10575003
- Publisher / Repository:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 981
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 37
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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