Towards an automatic sunspot tracking: Swarm intelligence and snake model hybrid

In this paper we discuss the suitability and versatility of a computer aided approach for identification and automatic tracking of sunspots with the aim to study solar evolution of sunspots and contribute to advances in models for predicting space weather and its influence on Earth. Our work crosses the discipline boundaries of AI and Solar Physics by proposing an automatic sunspot tracking system based on a combined evolutionary Swarm Intelligence algorithm and Snake model. Some illustrative examples of tracking sunspot evolutions are presented to clarify the potential of the proposed approach.