Automated Prediction of Solar Flares Using SDO Data. The Development of An Automated Computer System for Predicting Solar Flares Based on SDO Satellite Data Using HMI Images Analysis, Visualisation, and Deep Learning Technologies

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PhD Thesis (6.512Mb)
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Publication date
2021Author
Abed, Ali K.Supervisor
Qahwaji, Rami S.R.Abd-Alhameed, Raed A.
Keyword
Convolutional neural networksDeep belief networks
Solar flares
Flare prediction
Flare occurence
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The University of Bradford theses are licenced under a Creative Commons Licence.
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University of BradfordDepartment
School of Computing, Informatics & MediaAwarded
2021
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Nowadays, space weather has become an international issue to the world's countries because of its catastrophic effect on space-borne and ground-based systems, and industries, impacting our lives. One of the main solar activities that is considered as a major driver of space weather is solar flares. Solar flares can be defined as an enormous eruption in the sun's atmosphere. This phenomenon happens when magnetic energy stored in twisted magnetic fields, usually near sunspots, is suddenly released. Yet, their occurrence is not fully understood. These flares can affect the Earth by the release of massive quantities of charged particles and electromagnetic radiation. Investigating the associations between solar flares and sunspot groups is helpful in comprehending the possible cause and effect relationships among solar flares and sunspot features. 01 This thesis proposes a new approach developed by integrating advances in image processing, machine learning, and deep learning with advances in solar physics to extract valuable knowledge from historical solar data related to sunspot regions and flares. This dissertation aims to achieve the following: 1) We developed a new prediction algorithm based on the Automated Solar Activity Prediction system (ASAP) system. The proposed algorithm updates the ASAP system by extending the training process and optimizing the learning rules to the optimize performance better. Two neural networks are used in the proposed approach. The first neural network is used to predict whether a specific sunspot class at a particular time is likely to produce a significant flare or not. The second neural network is used to predict the type of this flare, X or M-class. 2) We proposed a new system called the ASAP_Deep system built on top of the ASAP system introduced in [6] but improves the system with an updated deep learning-based prediction capability. In addition, we successfully apply Convolutional Neural Network (CNN) to the sunspot group image without any pr-eprocessing or feature extraction. Moreover, our system results are considerably better, especially for the false alarm ratio (FAR); this reduces the losses resulting from the protection measures applied by companies. In addition, the proposed system achieves a relatively high score of True Skill Statistic (TSS) and Heidke Skill Score (HSS). 3) We presented a novel system that used the Deep Belief Networks (DBNs) to predict the solar flares occurrence. The input data are SDO/HMI Intensitygram and Magnetogram images. The model outputs are "Flare or No-Flare" of significant flare occurrence (M and X-class flares). In addition, we created a dataset from the sunspots groups extracted from SDO HMI Intensitygram images. We compared the results obtained from the complete suggested system with those of three previous flare forecast models using several statistical metrics. In our view, these developed methods and results represent an excellent initial step toward enhancing the accuracy of flare forecasting, enhance our understanding of flare occurrence, and develop efficient flare prediction systems. The systems, implementation, results, and future work are explained in this dissertation.Type
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PhDCollections
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Enhanced flare prediction by advanced feature extraction from solar images : developing automated imaging and machine learning techniques for processing solar images and extracting features from active regions to enable the efficient prediction of solar flares.Qahwaji, Rami S.R.; Ipson, Stanley S.; Colak, Tufan; Ahmed, Omar W. (University of BradfordSchool of Computing, Informatics & Media, 2012-04-16)Space weather has become an international issue due to the catastrophic impact it can have on modern societies. Solar flares are one of the major solar activities that drive space weather and yet their occurrence is not fully understood. Research is required to yield a better understanding of flare occurrence and enable the development of an accurate flare prediction system, which can warn industries most at risk to take preventative measures to mitigate or avoid the effects of space weather. This thesis introduces novel technologies developed by combining advances in statistical physics, image processing, machine learning, and feature selection algorithms, with advances in solar physics in order to extract valuable knowledge from historical solar data, related to active regions and flares. The aim of this thesis is to achieve the followings: i) The design of a new measurement, inspired by the physical Ising model, to estimate the magnetic complexity in active regions using solar images and an investigation of this measurement in relation to flare occurrence. The proposed name of the measurement is the Ising Magnetic Complexity (IMC). ii) Determination of the flare prediction capability of active region properties generated by the new active region detection system SMART (Solar Monitor Active Region Tracking) to enable the design of a new flare prediction system. iii) Determination of the active region properties that are most related to flare occurrence in order to enhance understanding of the underlying physics behind flare occurrence. The achieved results can be summarised as follows: i) The new active region measurement (IMC) appears to be related to flare occurrence and it has a potential use in predicting flare occurrence and location. ii) Combining machine learning with SMART¿s active region properties has the potential to provide more accurate flare predictions than the current flare prediction systems i.e. ASAP (Automated Solar Activity Prediction). iii) Reduced set of 6 active region properties seems to be the most significant properties related to flare occurrence and they can achieve similar degree of flare prediction accuracy as the full 21 SMART active region properties. The developed technologies and the findings achieved in this thesis will work as a corner stone to enhance the accuracy of flare prediction; develop efficient flare prediction systems; and enhance our understanding of flare occurrence. The algorithms, implementation, results, and future work are explained in this thesis.
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Automated Solar Activity Prediction: A hybrid computer platform using machine learning and solar imaging for automated prediction of solar flaresColak, Tufan; Qahwaji, Rami S.R. (AGU, 04/06/2009)The importance of real-time processing of solar data especially for space weather applications is increasing continuously. In this paper, we present an automated hybrid computer platform for the short-term prediction of significant solar flares using SOHO/Michelson Doppler Imager images. This platform is called the Automated Solar Activity Prediction tool (ASAP). This system integrates image processing and machine learning to deliver these predictions. A machine learning-based system is designed to analyze years of sunspot and flare data to create associations that can be represented using computer-based learning rules. An imaging-based real-time system that provides automated detection, grouping, and then classification of recent sunspots based on the McIntosh classification is also created and integrated within this system. The properties of the sunspot regions are extracted automatically by the imaging system and processed using the machine learning rules to generate the real-time predictions. Several performance measurement criteria are used and the results are provided in this paper. Also, quadratic score is used to compare the prediction results of ASAP with NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center (SWPC) between 1999 and 2002, and it is shown that ASAP generates more accurate predictions compared to SWPC.