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24 January 2002
20020123 Week Rotation Today Rotation Week 20020125

Welcome to the Flare Prediction System. This page lists the active regions present on the Sun today, together with their probability of producing C-, M-, or X-class events. Flare probabilities are calculated using NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center data combined over 1969-1976 and 1988-1996 (details of which can be found in Bloomfield et al., 2012, The Astrophysical Journal Letters, 747, L41, along with full forecast verification testing). The percentage probabilities are based on the number of flares produced by regions classified using the McIntosh classification scheme (McIntosh, P., 1990, Solar Physics, 125, 251) during cycles 21 and 22. For example, over both time periods there were 377 regions classified Eai. As this class produced 131 M-class events, the mean M-class flare rate is ~131/377 or ~0.347 flares per day. Assuming the number of flares per unit time is governed by Poisson statistics, we can estimate a flaring probability for the following 24-hours using P( one or more flares ) = 1 - exp( -mean ), i.e., P = 1 - exp( -0.347 ) ~ 0.29, or 29% for an Eai class region to produce one or more M-class flares in the next 24-hours.

See Gallagher, P. T., Moon, Y.-J., Wang, H., Solar Physics, 209, 171, (2002),
Wheatland, M. S., 2001, Solar Physics, 203, 87 and Moon et al., 2001, Journal of Geophysical Research-Space Physics, 106(A12) 29951 for further details.

Click here for a description of the various active region classifications from the Royal Observatory of Belgium.

Region Flare Probabilities (%)
Number McIntosh C-class M-class X-class
No Prediction Found

NOTE: Occurrence of '...' indicates that McIntosh class was not observed in the period over which the Poisson flare rate statistics were determined. Values in parantheses/brackets give the NOAA/SWPC forecast probabilities for the occurrence of one or more C-, M-, or X-class flares. When viewed in real-time and before 22:00 UT, NOAA predictions are valid up to 22:00 UT on the current date. When viewed in real-time after 22:00 UT (or when viewing past dates), NOAA predictions are valid up to 22:00 UT on the following date. The most recent data can also be found at NOAA's 3-day Space Weather Predictions page.

Please contact Peter Gallagher if you have any comments or questions regarding this research.



Today's/Yesterday's NOAA Active Regions
NOAA Number
Latest
Position
Hale
Class
McIntosh Class
Sunspot Area
[millionths]
Number of Spots
Recent
Flares
09781 S03W91
(950",-47")
αγ/α Hax/Hsx 0030/0050 01/01 -
09782 N08W91
(942",133")
αγ/α Hax/Hsx 0060/0090 01/01 -
09783 S11W79
(918",-202")
βγ/β Dao/Dao 0140/0140 08/10 -
09784 S28W87
(839",-449")
βγ/βγ Cao/Cao 0030/0030 03/03 -
09785 N31W91
(816",488")
αγ/β Hsx/Dso 0080/0090 01/02 -
09786 S24W91
(869",-382")
αγ/α Hax/Hsx 0060/0050 01/01 -
09787 S07W08
(132",-234")
βγ/βγ Dki/Dko 0440/0400 10/13 -
09788 N17W28
(429",175")
βγ/βγ Eai/Dai 0170/0200 20/18 -
09789 N26W69
(800",376")
αγ/βγ Hrx/Cro 0010/0010 01/04 -
09790 N29W42
(559",381")
αγ/βγ Axx/Cso 0000/0010 01/03 -
09791 S02W73
(911",-68")
βγ/βγ Dso/Dao 0060/0070 05/10 -
09792 S03W30
(477",-153")
βγ/βγ Bxo/Bxo 0010/0010 05/05 -
09793 S14W24
(377",-336")
βγ/βγ Cso/Cso 0020/0020 08/05 -
09794 N12E09
(-146",80")
αγ/αγ Hsx/Hsx 0010/0010 02/02 -
09795 N23W74
(843",339")
βγ/βγ Dso/Dso 0040/0040 03/03 -
09796 N09E04
(-65",29")
βγ/βγ Cso/Cso 0030/0030 04/04 -
09797 S16E18
(-284",-371")
αγ/αγ Hsx/Hsx 0020/0020 02/02 -
09798 S03E28
(-448",-155")
βγ/βγ Cso/Cso 0020/0020 04/04 -
09799 S25E40
(-556",-484")
βγ/βγ Bxo/Bxo 0020/0020 02/02 -

Class (HH:MM) -Today
Class (HH:MM) -Yesterday

Events not associated with currently named NOAA regions: None

Note: The tabulated data are based on the most recent NOAA/USAF Active Region Summary issued on 24-Jan-2002 00:30 . The greyed out and light-blue entries are values from the previous day. Slashed cells indicate that the active region has no spots. The latest positions of the active regions are given in both heliographic and heliocentric co-ordinates. The region positions are valid on 24-Jan-2002 23:30 .