"Sun-to-Ice" is a 5-year research project that explores extreme events generated by our Sun and their effects on the Earth. The project draws together scientists from many different disciplines to tackle a question of growing importance to our society: What are the extremes of solar activity that produce powerful space weather effects at Earth which pose risks to society? Decades of research have prepared the undertaking of this study. We know that the Sun is capable of creating explosive events and that these events generate dangerous streams of energetic charged particles that can arrive at the Earth moments later. We also know that these solar particles can slam into our atmosphere and affect its chemistry, including in the ozone layer. These same particles can cripple satellite systems we depend on in everyday life (GPS, communications, etc.), and pose radiation risks to astronauts and even to airline passengers. However, we only have measured such events during the space age over the past 50 years, a brief wink of time compared to the age of the Sun and solar system.
"Sun-to-Ice" investigates extreme solar events and their effects on Earth by detailed studies of the physical processes linking the Sun to Earth. The project will study how solar eruptions lead to giant blasts of material called coronal mass ejections and how they evolve in space once they leave the Sun. It investigates the processes by which these extreme solar events accelerate charged particles and how these particles are transported from the Sun to Earth. It also studies how these dangerous charged particles enter the Earth's atmosphere and how they change its chemical properties. Finally, it will study how chemical signatures of these events are recorded in ice near the poles. By confirming a link between extreme solar activity and the ice core record, deep ice cores can thus be used as a means for unraveling the history of ancient solar activity and establishing the range of extreme solar events. This project seeks to make breakthroughs in diverse, complex and interlinked systems that cross the boundaries between space physics, atmospheric, and ice core science, yielding insights into the genesis of extreme events and their impact on Earth.
