Automated Detection of Coronal Mass Ejections in STEREO Heliospheric Imager data

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel automated method using the Hough transform and CACTus software to detect Coronal Mass Ejections in STEREO HI-1 data, enhancing solar event analysis capabilities.

Contribution

First successful automation of CME detection in heliospheric imager data using a modified CACTus approach with detailed method description.

Findings

Effective detection of well-known CMEs in HI-1 imagery

Comparison shows advantages over manual cataloging

Discussion of method's strengths and limitations

Abstract

We have performed, for the first time, the successful automated detection of Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) in data from the inner heliospheric imager (HI-1) cameras on the STEREO A spacecraft. Detection of CMEs is done in time-height maps based on the application of the Hough transform, using a modified version of the CACTus software package, conventionally applied to coronagraph data. In this paper we describe the method of detection. We present the result of the application of the technique to a few CMEs that are well detected in the HI-1 imagery, and compare these results with those based on manual cataloging methodologies. We discuss in detail the advantages and disadvantages of this method.