Aimee A. Norton

Spectral Line Selection for HMI: A Comparison of Fe I 6173 Å and Ni I 6768 Å

We present a study of two spectral lines, Fe I 6173 Å and Ni I 6768 Å, that were candidates to be used in the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) for observing Doppler velocity and the vector magnetic field. The line profiles were studied using the Mt. Wilson Observatory, the Advanced Stokes Polarimeter and the Kitt Peak-McMath Pierce telescope and one-meter Fourier transform spectrometer atlas. Both Fe I and Ni I profiles have clean continua and no blends that threaten instrument performance. The Fe I line is 2% deeper, 15% narrower, and has a 6% smaller equivalent width than the Ni I line. The potential of each spectral line to recover pre-assigned solar conditions is tested using a least-squares minimization technique to fit Milne-Eddington models to tens of thousands of line profiles that have been sampled at five spectral positions across the line. Overall, the Fe I line has a better performance than the Ni I line for vector-magnetic-field retrieval. Specifically, the Fe I line is able to determine field strength, longitudinal and transverse flux four times more accurately than the Ni I line in active regions. Inclination and azimuthal angles can be recovered to ≈2° above 600 Mx cm−2 for Fe I and above 1000 Mx cm−2 for Ni I. Therefore, the Fe I line better determines the magnetic-field orientation in plage, whereas both lines provide good orientation determination in penumbrae and umbrae. We selected the Fe I spectral line for use in HMI due to its better performance for magnetic diagnostics while not sacrificing velocity information. The one exception to the better performance of the Fe I line arises when high field strengths combine with high velocities to move the spectral line beyond the effective sampling range. The higher geff of Fe I means that its useful range of velocity values in regions of strong magnetic field is smaller than Ni I.

Solar-Cycle Characteristics Examined in Separate Hemispheres: Phase, Gnevyshev Gap, and Length of Minimum

According to research results from solar-dynamo models, the northern and southern hemispheres may evolve separately throughout the solar cycle. The observed phase lag between the northern and southern hemispheres provides information regarding how strongly the hemispheres are coupled. Using hemispheric sunspot-area and sunspot-number data from Cycles 12 – 23, we determine how out of phase the separate hemispheres are during the rising, maximum, and declining period of each solar cycle. Hemispheric phase differences range from 0 – 11, 0 – 14, and 2 – 19 months for the rising, maximum, and declining periods, respectively. The phases appear randomly distributed between zero months (in phase) and half of the rise (or decline) time of the solar cycle. An analysis of the sunspot cycle double peak, or Gnevyshev gap, is conducted to determine if the double-peak is caused by the averaging of two hemispheres that are out of phase. We confirm previous findings that the Gnevyshev gap is a phenomenon that occurs in the separate hemispheres and is not due to a superposition of sunspot indices from hemispheres slightly out of phase. Cross hemispheric coupling could be strongest at solar minimum, when there are large quantities of magnetic flux at the Equator. We search for a correlation between the hemispheric phase difference near the end of the solar cycle and the length of solar-cycle minimum, but found none. Because magnetic flux diffusion across the Equator is a mechanism by which the hemispheres couple, we measured the magnetic flux crossing the Equator by examining Kitt Peak Vacuum Telescope and SOLIS magnetograms for Solar Cycles 21 – 23. We find, on average, a surplus of northern hemisphere magnetic flux crossing during the mid-declining phase of each solar cycle. However, we find no correlation between magnitude of magnetic flux crossing the Equator, length of solar minima, and phase lag between the hemispheres.

Evidence for Polar Jets as Precursors of Polar Plume Formation

Observations from the Hinode/XRT telescope and STEREO/SECCHI/EUVI are utilized to study polar coronal jets and plumes. The study focuses on the temporal evolution of both structures and their relationship. The data sample, spanning 2007 April 7-8, shows that over 90% of the 28 observed jet events are associated with polar plumes. EUV images (STEREO/SECCHI) show plume haze rising from the location of approximately 70% of the polar X-ray (Hinode/XRT) and EUV jets, with the plume haze appearing minutes to hours after the jet was observed. The remaining jets occurred in areas where plume material previously existed, causing a brightness enhancement of the latter after the jet event. Short-lived, jetlike events and small transient bright points are seen (one at a time) at different locations within the base of preexisting long-lived plumes. X-ray images also show instances (at least two events) of collimated thin jets rapidly evolving into significantly wider plumelike structures that are followed by the delayed appearance of plume haze in the EUV. These observations provide evidence that X-ray jets are precursors of polar plumes and in some cases cause brightenings of plumes. Possible mechanisms to explain the observed jet and plume relationship are discussed.

Magnetic field-minimum intensity correlation in sunspots: a tool for solar dynamo diagnostics

Within a sunspot umbra, the continuum intensity is known to be inversely proportional to the magnetic field strength. Studied less is the relationship between the minimum continuum intensity and the maximum field strength of different sunspots. We conduct a test of this global relationship, using brightness ratios and magnetic field data from the Advanced Stokes Polarimeter and the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) for 10 sunspot umbrae of various sizes observed 1998 May-2003 June. We determine that the peak field strengths of sunspots can be ascertained from a fit to their corresponding brightness ratios with an accuracy of ≈100 G, nearly twice the accuracy that a fit to the MDI magnetogram values can provide. We then analyze continuum intensity data from the MDI to characterize the distribution of sunspots as a function of latitude. We hand-select 331 and 321 umbrae, respectively, in the northern and southern hemispheres during Carrington rotations 1910-2003. Although the average location of sunspot eruption moves equatorward throughout the solar cycle, the northern hemisphere shows darker umbrae located systematically closer to the equator, while brighter umbrae are found at higher latitudes. These findings confirm the results of simulations that show strong flux emerging radially while weak flux emerges nonradially, causing weak flux to emerge poleward of its original toroidal field position. The average umbral intensity decreased in the north through the solar cycle, reaching a minimum intensity around sunspot maximum, possible evidence of the toroidal field strength peaking at solar maximum. This finding is in opposition to previous observations suggesting an increase late in the cycle. The southern hemisphere umbral distribution appears more disorganized and periodic in nature.

The solar oxygen crisis: probably not the last word

In this work we present support for recent claims that advocate a downward revision of the solar oxygen abundance. Our analysis employs spatially resolved spectropolarimetric observations including the Fe I lines at 6302 A and the O I infrared triplet around 7774 A in the quiet Sun. We used the Fe I lines to reconstruct the three-dimensional thermal and magnetic structure of the atmosphere. The simultaneous O I observations were then employed to determine the abundance of oxygen at each pixel, using both LTE and non-LTE (NLTE) approaches to the radiative transfer. In this manner, we obtain values of log O = 8.63 (NLTE) and 8.93 (LTE) dex. We find an unsettling fluctuation of the oxygen abundance over the field of view. This is likely an artifact indicating that, even with this relatively refined strategy, important physical ingredients are still missing in the picture. By examining the spatial distribution of the abundance, we estimate realistic confidence limits of approximately 0.1 dex.

Observables Processing for the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager Instrument on the Solar Dynamics Observatory

NASA’s Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) spacecraft was launched 11 February 2010 with three instruments onboard, including the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI). After commissioning, HMI began normal operations on 1 May 2010 and has subsequently observed the Sun’s entire visible disk almost continuously. HMI collects sequences of polarized filtergrams taken at a fixed cadence with two 4096×4096

The Coronal Global Evolutionary Model: Using HMI Vector Magnetogram and Doppler Data to Model the Buildup of Free Magnetic Energy in the Solar Corona

4096 \times 4096

A “breathing” source surface for cycles 23 and 24

cameras, from which are computed arcsecond-resolution maps of photospheric observables that include line-of-sight velocity and magnetic field, continuum intensity, line width, line depth, and the Stokes polarization parameters [I,Q,U,V

Magnetic field vector retrieval with the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager

I, Q, U, V

Recovering solar toroidal field dynamics from sunspot location patterns

]. Two processing pipelines have been implemented at the SDO Joint Science Operations Center (JSOC) at Stanford University to compute these observables from calibrated Level-1 filtergrams, one that computes line-of-sight quantities every 45 seconds and the other, primarily for the vector magnetic field, that computes averages on a 720-second cadence. Corrections are made for static and temporally changing CCD characteristics, bad pixels, image alignment and distortion, polarization irregularities, filter-element uncertainty and nonuniformity, as well as Sun–spacecraft velocity. We detail the functioning of these two pipelines, explain known issues affecting the measurements of the resulting physical quantities, and describe how regular updates to the instrument calibration impact them. We also describe how the scheme for computing the observables is optimized for actual HMI observations. Initial calibration of HMI was performed on the ground using a variety of light sources and calibration sequences. During the five years of the SDO prime mission, regular calibration sequences have been taken on orbit to improve and regularly update the instrument calibration, and to monitor changes in the HMI instrument. This has resulted in several changes in the observables processing that are detailed here. The instrument more than satisfies all of the original specifications for data quality and continuity. The procedures described here still have significant room for improvement. The most significant remaining systematic errors are associated with the spacecraft orbital velocity.