The investigators will determine whether combined solar observations from a white light coronagraph and extreme ultraviolet imager on the SOHO spacecraft provide an unambiguous signature of an Earthward directed coronal mass ejection (CME). They will also perform a statistical study of these observations as a predictor of geomagnetic storms. Their approach is to use 30 months of LASCO and EIT observations to expand the analysis from a few individual cases now published into general rules suitable for forecasting. A technique for forecasting CME's and their geomagnetic consequences would directly benefit the National Space Weather Program. The project should also provide scientific insight into the three-dimensional structure of CME's.
