Multi-Spacecraft Investigations of Solar and Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejections in Complex Solar Wind Environments

Heliophysics is in its golden age, with an unprecedented number of satellites providing observations of unparalleled quality, either (remotely) of the Sun or (in-situ) of the solar wind. The project will be to investigate plasma and dynamical properties using the complementarities of multi-spacecraft observations. The objective is to reveal phenomena and unravel the physics governing key regions of our Sun-Earth system in the chain of space weather events that can affect our radiation environment, our communication systems and our climate. As well as joining the Centre for Geophysical and Astrophysical Fluid Dynamics, the PhD student will directly benefit from links with the Astrophysics cluster and the nearby Met Office space weather activities. This brand new PhD project will equip the student with skills suited to address future science with Solar Orbiter, the ESA mission to be launched in 2020.