AAVSO: Solar Bulletin, March 2003

Solar Bulletin, March 2003

Solar Bulletin

THE AMERICAN ASSOCIATION OF VARIABLE STAR OBSERVERS - SOLAR COMMITTEE

Carl E. Feehrer, Editor
9 Gleason Rd.
Bedford, MA 01730

Email: cfeehrer@hotmail.com

ISSN 0271-8480

Volume 59 Number 3

March 2003

Table I. Mean Sunspot Numbers for March 2003
[boldface = maximum, minimum]

Table II. March Observers

Day	N	Raw	s.d.	Ra	s.d.	s.e.
1	29	68	2.5	53	2.0	0.37
2	31	83	4.7	63	3.3	0.59
3	30	87	5.7	64	2.7	0.49
4	25	114	9.0	77	3.7	0.74
5	29	108	8.6	73	3.8	0.71
6	34	89	5.9	66	2.7	0.46
7	35	110	7.9	80	3.6	0.61
8	43	106	5.7	77	3.0	0.46
9	43	125	6.5	91	2.9	0.44
10	41	110	6.0	78	2.5	0.39
11	32	110	5.2	74	1.8	0.32
12	37	83	4.3	59	2.3	0.38
13	37	76	4.0	56	2.2	0.36
14	46	93	4.1	68	2.0	0.29
15	45	99	3.5	75	2.0	0.30
16	53	85	3.2	62	1.5	0.21
17	44	61	2.6	46	1.7	0.26
18	39	61	2.8	46	1.3	0.21
19	51	55	2.3	41	1.2	0.17
20	35	47	2.3	32	1.2	0.20
21	38	23	2.7	16	1.7	0.28
22	44	18	1.5	14	1.0	0.15
23	51	35	1.7	25	1.0	0.14
24	57	53	2.0	40	1.5	0.20
25	41	71	3.9	52	2.0	0.31
26	45	102	4.8	71	2.2	0.33
27	46	124	5.8	88	2.4	0.35
28	38	144	5.8	105	3.5	0.57
29	37	177	8.0	124	3.2	0.53
30	40	168	5.8	124	2.5	0.40
31	40	151	5.3	108	2.5	0.40
Means:	39.9	91.4		66.1
No. of Observations: 1236 No. of Observers: 76

Reporting Addresses
Sunspot Reports -- email: solar@aavso.org postal mail: AAVSO, 25 Birch St. Cambridge, MA 02138 FAX (AAVSO): (617) 354-0665
SID Solar Flare Reports -- email: noatak@aol.com postal mail: Mike Hill 114 Prospect St. Marlboro, MA 01752

15	AAP	P.Abbott
21	ARAG	G.Araujo
17	ATON	A.Attanasio
8	BARH	H.Barnes
6	BATR	R.Battaiola
14	BERJ	J.Berdejo
12	BOJP	P.Bojda
26	BOSB	B.Bose
21	BRAB	B.Branchett
19	BRAR	R.Branch
26	BROB	R.Brown
2	CAMP	P.Campbell
13	CARJ	J.Carlson
27	CHAG	G.Morales
18	CKB	B.Cudnik
13	CLZ	C.Laurent
7	COMT	T.Compton
31	CORA	A.Coroas
30	CR	T.Cragg
3	CVJ	J.Carvajal
14	DELS	S.Delaney
8	DEMF	F.Dempsey
17	DGP	G.Dyck
20	DRAJ	J.Dragesco
22	DUBF	F.Dubois
28	ELR	E.Reed
13	FEEC	C.Feehrer
25	FERJ	J.Fernandes
24	FLET	T.Fleming
22	FUJK	K.Fujimori
23	GIOR	R.Giovanoni
21	GOEM	M.Goetz
11	GOTS	S.Gottschalk
7	HALB	B.Halls
7	HAYK	K.Hay
8	HRUT	T.Hrutkay
22	JAMD	D.James
19	JEFT	T.Jeffrey
13	JENJ	J.Jenkins
4	JENS	S.Jenner
20	KAPJ	J.Kaplan
24	KHAR	R.Khan
26	KNJS	J&S Knight
5	KROL	L.Krozel
6	LARJ	J.Larriba
4	LERM	M.Lerman
19	LEVM	M.Leventhal
5	LUBT	T.Lubbers
16	MALK	K.Malde
8	MARE	E.Mariani
28	MARJ	J.Maranon
21	MCE	E.Mochizuki
10	MILJ	J.Miller
25	MMI	M.Moeller
17	OBSO	IPS Observatory
17	RICE	E.Richardson
19	RITA	A.Ritchie
22	SCGL	G.Schott
6	SCHG	G.Scholl
3	SDP	D.Sharples
12	SIMC	C.Simpson
25	STAB	B.Gordon-States
3	STEF	G.Stefanopoulis
20	STEM	G.Stemmler
19	STQ	N.Stoikidis
25	SUZM	M.Suzuki
28	SZAK	K.Szatkowski
18	SZUM	M.Szulc
15	TESD	D.Teske
16	THR	R.Thompson
11	TJV	J.Temprano
24	URBP	P.Urbanski
13	VARG	A.Vargas
13	VELM	M.Velea
15	WILW	W.Wilson
21	YESH	H.Yesilyaprak

Table III. Means of Raw Group Counts (RG) and Ratios of Spots to Groups (S:G) in March 2003

Day

S:G

Day

S:G

Day

S:G

Day

S:G

4.9

3.9

8.4

4.9

3.2

9.1

4.9

4.5

5.8

4.3

7.4

4.9

3.4

7.9

5.6

8.2

6.0

4.5

7.0

5.7

3.1

7.7

6.2

10.0

7.0

6.3

5.3

5.7

3.2

4.7

7.7

8.7

6.4

6.9

4.6

6.5

1.8

2.8

8.3

11.3

5.6

5.9

5.2

7.9

1.5

2.0

9.0

8.7

7.0

5.7

7.4

2.5

4.0

8.3

8.2

6.8

5.6

4.4

9.3

3.7

4.3

Mn.

5.5

6.4

Click image to enlarge.
Fig.1. 10 cm Solar Flux and Comparison of Ri (provisional) and Ra Estimates for March 2003 (r=0.982).
(Ri Source: http://sidc..oma.be/index.php3)
(10cm Source: http://www.drao.nrc.ca/icarus)

Click image to enlarge.
Fig.2 Maximum, Mean, and Minimum Ra Values for Each Month from January 2001 to Present.

Michael Hill, SID Analyst
114 Prospect St
Marlborough, MA 01752 USA
noatak@aol.com

Sudden Ionospheric Disturbances (SID) Recorded During March 2003

(Analysis performed by Michael Hill, SID Analyst)
Date	Max	Imp	Date	Max	Imp	Date	Max	Imp
030301	0843	2	030318	1610	1-	030327	0947	1+
030301	1333	1-	030318	1620	1	030327	1456	1
030301	1422	1-	030318	1905	2	030327	1947	1+
030301	1433	1+	030319	0306	2	030329	1018	1+
030301	1542	1-	030319	0645	2	030329	1023	1
030301	1720	1	030319	0955	1+	030329	1231	1
030301	1909	1-	030319	1132	1+	030329	1307	1-
030305	1336	1-	030319	1334	1+	030329	1412	2
030308	0936	2	030319	1613	1-	030329	1516	1+
030309	0648	1+	030319	1648	1+	030329	1522	2+
030309	1755	1	030319	1710	1-	030329	1701	1
030315	1337	1+	030319	1823	1	030329	1840	2
030315	1530	1+	030319	1854	2	030330	0128	1
030315	2010	2	030319	2130	1-
030315	2020	2+	030319	2202	1
030316	1131	1-	030320	1135	1+
030316	1429	1+	030320	1736	3
030318	0000	3+	030321	0910	1-
030318	0600	2	030321	1429	1
030318	0744	2+	030322	0658	2
030318	1024	1+	030322	0858	1-
030318	1158	3	030322	0951	1-
030318	1206	2+	030326	1711	1
030318	1214	2+	030327	0539	2+
030318	1414	1	030327	0704	1+

Importance rating: Duration

-1: <19

1: 19-25

1+: 26-32

2: 33-45

2+: 46-85

3: 86-125

3+: >125

Observer	Code	Station(s) monitored
A Clerkin	A29	NAA
J Winkler	A50	NAA NPR
D Toldo	A52	NAA NWC XXX
J Ellerbe	A63	ICV
A Panzer	A83	NAA
W Moos	A84	FTA
M Hill	A87	NAA
G DiFillipo	A93	DHO HWU
T Poulos	A95	NAA
R Battaiola	A96	DHO HWU
J Wallace	A97	NAA
M King	A99	HWU
P Campbell	A100	NLK
S Bressan	A101	DHO
F Steyn	A102	NAA NWC
D Welch	A104	NAA
L Observatory	A107	DHO

The events listed above meet at least one of the following criteria

Event reported by two or more observers within +/- 5 minutes
Event matched to GOES-8 XRA event to within +/- 15 minutes and event time < 1000 UT
Reported by observer with a high quality rating > 8 (scale 1-10)

Solar Events

The GOES-8 Satellite recorded 214 X-Ray flare events. Of these, 7 were M-Class and 2 were X-Class events; One on the 17th and one on the 18th. SID observers recorded a total of 63 events, the most since last November. Curiously none were recorded for the 17th. There were certainly flares that day, one of them an X-Class event. What happened? Well unfortunately the 17th was a Monday. As many of us in the Eastern half of the United States monitor NAA, we missed all the events because this is the day that NAA shuts down for maintenance. Most of the stronger, observable events occurred during the hours of 15 - 23 UT when we would normally be the most likely to see them. That day we didn't. It looks like some of us should try to get a second station in our sights to provide Monday coverage for these UT times. Speaking of station maintenance, a few weeks ago someone asked that others post known maintenance times for stations they observer. I saved all the responses and have compiled a list for you to refer to. If you have any additions, please send them along to me. I will add them to the list.

VLF Stations - Known Maintenance Days (off-Air)

Station	Frequency	Day	Time
NWC	19.8 Khz	Monday	0 - 8 UT
DHO	23.4 Khz	Everyday	7 – 8 UT
NAA	24.0 Khz	Monday	12 – 20 UT
NLK	24.8 Khz	Thursday	15 – ?? UT
??? (North Dakota)	25.2 Khz	Teusday	12 – 20 UT

Solar Bulletin, March 2003

Solar Bulletin

Sudden Ionospheric Disturbance Report

Solar Events