Big Data in Science

by the examples of two European research projects: JHelioviewer and FLARECAST

Institute of 4D Technologies & Data Science i4Ds School of Engineering University of Applied Sciences and Arts Northwestern Switzerland FHNW

André Csillaghy, Simon Felix, Michael Graber

JHelioviewer

The tool offers new possibilities for analyzing solar eruptions and the ejection of huge masses of matter as seen in this screenshot.

JHelioviewer is an ESA project. i4Ds developed the 3D - functionalities.

JHelioviewer Visualzation software for accessing large archives of high quality solar image data

JHelioviewer

Image: NASA/SDO

This is where most data processed by JHelioviewer come from: the NASA’s spacecraft Solar Dynamic Observatory, a space telescope delivering high resolution data in unprecedented quantities.

Solar activity affects the Earth.

When a solar storm hits the Earth, charged particles from the sun interact with the atmosphere generating the polar lights. This is the beautiful side of solar activity.

Image: Joshua Strang, United States Airforce

Why so much effort for understanding the sun?

However, there is also a downside to solar activity.

A solar storm hitting the Earth may affect electronics both on the ground and in space.

The more dependent we become on space based technology, the more important precautionary measures are.

We study the sun to reliably predict space weather in order to better protect our vulnerable assets on the ground and in space.

FLARECAST Flare Likelihood and Region Eruption Forecasting

FLARECAST is a European research project for developing a fully automated solar-flare forecasting system with an unmatched accuracy compared to existing facilities.

Project partners

•  University of Genova / CNR, Italy •  Trinity College Dublin, Ireland •  Met Office, UK •  Academy of Sciences Athens, Greece •  University of Paris Sud / CNRS, France •  University of Applied Sciences and the Arts FHNW, Switzerland

FLARECAST will analyze huge amounts of data in order to develop an automatic prediction system for future space weather events.

Image: quadtec.com

Information of interest are extracted from images using advanced image processing techniques.

Image: NASA/SDO

We use machine learning algorithms for automatic detection of structures and features on the solar surface. The result will be a software that automatically predicts the risk of a solar explosion.

Graph: datarobot.com

Once successfully implemented for big data sets in space weather prediction, the prediction system will be transferred to other areas such as energy management, transportation or the management of large cities.