It is cloudy with a chance of space weather….
Coming to the end of a solar maximum and reflect on awe-inspiring events like the Aurora Borealis in Kelvingrove park, we are reminded of the immense power of the Sun’s ejections. Solar flares are among the most energetic phenomena in our solar system, releasing vast amounts of energy and exhibiting intricate, dynamic patterns. At the forefront of understanding these events are solar flare ribbons—bright, shifting structures on the Sun's surface that trace the flare’s creation.
My research focuses on developing and refining image processing techniques to detect and study the small-scale structures in these ribbons, which is crucial for understanding their evolution and implications for space weather. This work combines advanced methods such as wavelet transforms, optical flow tracking, and SIFT (Scale-Invariant Feature Transform) to accurately track the movement and transformation of solar flare ribbons across time.
By improving the ability to track and analyse solar flare ribbons, this research contributes to a broader understanding of solar activity and its potential impact on Earth.