show styles

 17 April 2002
⇐20020416 ⇐Week ⇐Rotation Today Rotation⇒ Week⇒ 20020418⇒

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
09896 S10W88
(937",-168") 		αγδ/αγδ Hsx/Hsx 0090/0090 01/01 -
09899 N18W72
(862",257") 		βγδ/βγδ Cso/Cso 0140/0170 02/02 -
09901 N21W91
(889",340") 		αγδ/βγδ Hkx/Dki 0270/0350 03/11 -
09902 N12W56
(774",131") 		βγδ/βγδ Cso/Cso 0070/0120 05/08 -
09903 N17W39
(575",187") 		αγδ/βγδ Axx/Bxo 0010/0010 02/04 -
09905 S15W91
(919",-242") 		βγδ/βγδ Dro/Dso 0050/0110 03/08 -
09906 S15W42
(617",-331") 		βγδ/βγδ Eki/Eki 0590/0690 27/34 -
09907 S03W07
(116",-169") 		βγδ/βγδ Eao/Eai 0170/0270 23/35 -
09909 N11E28
(-440",76") 		αγδ/αγδ Hax/Hsx 0120/0180 02/01 -
09910 S20E23
(-351",-428") 		βγδ/βγδ Cso/Bxo 0030/0030 04/05 -

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 17-Apr-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 17-Apr-2002 23:30 .