Wolfgang Finsterle

In-Flight Performance of the Virgo Solar Irradiance Instruments on Soho

The in-flight performance of the total and spectral irradiance instruments within VIRGO (Variability of solar IRradiance and Gravity Oscillations) on the ESA/NASA Mission SOHO (SOlar and Heliospheric Observatory) is in most aspects better than expected. The behaviour during the first year of operation of the two types of radiometers and the sunphotometers together with a description of their data evaluation procedures is presented.

Observational Upper Limits to Low-Degree Solar g-Modes

Observations made by the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) and Variability of solar IRradiance and Gravity Oscillations (VIRGO) on the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) and by the ground-based Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network (BiSON) and Global Oscillations Network Group (GONG) have been used in a concerted effort to search for solar gravity oscillations. All spectra are dominated by solar noise in the frequency region from 100 to 1000 μHz, where g-modes are expected to be found. Several methods have been used in an effort to extract any g-mode signal present. These include (1) the correlation of data—both full-disk and imaged (with different spatial-mask properties)—collected over different time intervals from the same instrument, (2) the correlation of near-contemporaneous data from different instruments, and (3) the extraction—through the application of complex filtering techniques—of the coherent part of data collected at different heights in the solar atmosphere. The detection limit is set by the loss of coherence caused by the temporal evolution and the motion (e.g., rotation) of superficial structures. Although we cannot identify any g-mode signature, we have nevertheless set a firm upper limit to the amplitudes of the modes: at 200 μHz, they are below 10 mm s-1 in velocity, and below 0.5 parts per million in intensity. The velocity limit corresponds very approximately to a peak-to-peak vertical displacement of δR/R☉ = 2.3 × 10-8 at the solar surface. These levels which are much lower than prior claims, are consistent with theoretical predictions.

Helioseismic mapping of the magnetic canopy in the solar chromosphere

We determine the three-dimensional topography of the magnetic canopy in and around active regions by mapping the propagation behavior of high-frequency acoustic waves in the solar chromosphere.

Total solar irradiance measurements with PREMOS/PICARD

PREMOS on the French satellite PICARD is the first spaceborne absolute radiometer measuring Total Solar Irradiance that has been irradiance-calibrated in vacuum with SI-traceability. The measurements of PREMOS at first light on July 27, 2010, yield a TSI value of 1360.9±0.4 W/m2 (k=1). This value agrees with the absolute TSI value measured by TIM/SORCE for this date within their combined uncertainties, and it differs by more than ten sigma from the absolute value of other space experiments, e.g. VIRGO/SOHO. The PREMOS measurements thus establish SI-traceability to a solar constant value of 1361 W/m2.

FIRST RESULTS FROM VIRGO, THE EXPERIMENT FOR HELIOSEISMOLOGY AND SOLAR IRRADIANCE MONITORING ON SOHO

First results from the VIRGO experiment (Variability of solar IRradiance and Gravity Oscillations) on the ESA/NASA Mission SOHO (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory) are reported. The observations started mid-January 1996 for the radiometers and sunphotometers and near the end of March for the luminosity oscillation imager. The performance of all the instruments is very good, and the time series of the first 4 - 6 months are evaluated in terms of solar irradiance variability, solar background noise characteristics and -mode oscillations. The solar irradiance is modulated by the passage of active regions across the disk, but not all of the modulation is straightforwardly explained in terms of sunspot flux blocking and facular enhancement. Helioseismic inversions of the observed -mode frequencies are more-or-less in agreement with the latest standard solar models. The comparison of VIRGO results with earlier ones shows evidence that magnetic activity plays a significant role in the dynamics of the oscillations beyond its modulation of the resonant frequencies. Moreover, by comparing the amplitudes of different components of -mode multiplets, each of which are influenced differently by spatial inhomogeneity, we have found that activity enhances excitation.

Third comparison of the World Radiometric Reference and the SI radiometric scale

A few years ago, we compared for the first time the World Radiometric Reference, which is used as reference for meteorological radiometry, and the Systeme International (SI) radiometric scale realized at the National Physical Laboratory with cryogenic radiometers. We present an improved comparison which used as transfer standard a trap detector calibrated to the NPL primary standard cryogenic radiometer. As a realization of the World Radiometric Reference, we used an electrical substitution radiometer traceable to the WRR and used in solar radiometry. The method of transfer has been improved and the results confirm those of the first comparison but with much lower uncertainty.

Fourth World Radiometric Reference to SI radiometric scale comparison and implications for on-orbit measurements of the total solar irradiance

We report the fourth World Radiometric Reference (WRR)-to-SI comparison. At the National Physical Laboratory we compared three transfer pyrheliometer instruments in power mode with the SI radiometric scale. Compared with the three previous comparisons, we improved the experiment by operating the transfer instruments in vacuum. At the Total solar irradiance Radiometer Facility (TRF) located at the Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (LASP) in Boulder, we repeated the power comparison of one of the transfer instruments. The TRF also allowed the comparison and characterization of this instrument in irradiance mode. Using the WRR comparisons performed in Davos, we find that the WRR is 0.34% higher than the SI scale. Comparing irradiance mode calibrations with power mode calibrations reveals that previous estimates of stray light of PMO6-type radiometers were very low. The instrument calibrated at TRF was integrated in the space experiment PREMOS on the French satellite PICARD and carries the first vacuum irradiance calibration to space.

The quasi-biennial periodicity (QBP) in velocity and intensity helioseismic observations - The seismic QBP over solar cycle 23

We looked for signatures of Quasi-Biennial Periodicity (QBP) over different phases of solar cycle by means of acoustic modes of oscillation. Low-degree p-mode frequencies are shown to be sensitive to changes in magnetic activity due to the global dynamo. Recently have been reported evidences in favor of two-year variations in p-mode frequencies. Long high-quality helioseismic data are provided by BiSON (Birmingham Solar Oscillation Network), GONG (Global Oscillation Network Group), GOLF (Global Oscillation at Low Frequency) and VIRGO (Variability of Solar IRradiance and Gravity Oscillation) instruments. We determined the solar cycle changes in p-mode frequencies for spherical degree l=0, 1, 2 with their azimuthal components in the frequency range 2.5 mHz < nu < 3.5 mHz. We found signatures of QBP at all levels of solar activity in the modes more sensitive to higher latitudes. The signal strength increases with latitude and the equatorial component seems also to be modulated by the 11-year envelope. The persistent nature of the seismic QBP is not observed in the surface activity indices, where mid-term variations are found only time to time and mainly over periods of high activity. This feature together with the latitudinal dependence provides more evidences in favor of a mechanism almost independent and different from the one that brings up to the surface the active regions. Therefore, these findings can be used to provide more constraints on dynamo models that consider a further cyclic component on top of the 11-year cycle.

Tri-Phonic Helioseismology: Comparison of Solar p Modes Observed by the Helioseismology Instruments Aboard SOHO

The three helioseismology instruments aboard SOHO observe solar p modes in velocity (GOLF and MDI) and in intensity (VIRGO and MDI). Time series of two months duration are compared and confirm that the instruments indeed observe the same Sun to a high degree of precision. Power spectra of 108 days are compared showing systematic differences between mode frequencies measured in intensity and in velocity. Data coverage exceeds 97% for all the instruments during this interval. The weighted mean differences (V-I) are −0.1 µHz for l=0, and −0.16 µHz for l=1. The source of this systematic difference may be due to an asymmetry effect that is stronger for modes seen in intensity. Wavelet analysis is also used to compare the shape of the forcing functions. In these data sets nearly all of the variations in mode amplitude are of solar origin. Some implications for structure inversions are discussed.

Acoustic power absorption and enhancement generated by slow and fast MHD waves - Evidence of solar cycle velocity/intensity amplitude changes consistent with the mode conversion theory

We used long duration, high quality, unresolved (Sun-as-a star) observations collected by the ground based network BiSON and by the instruments GOLF and VIRGO on board the ESA/NASA SOHO satellite to search for solar-cycle-related changes in mode characteristics in velocity and continuum intensity for the frequency range between 2.5mHz < nu < 6.8mHz. Over the ascending phase of solar cycle 23 we found a suppression in the p-mode amplitudes both in the velocity and intensity data between 2.5mHz <nu< 4.5mHz with a maximum suppression for frequencies in the range between 2.5mHz <nu< 3.5mHz. The size of the amplitude suppression is 13+-2 per cent for the velocity and 9+-2 per cent for the intensity observations. Over the range 4.5mHz <nu< 5.5mHz the findings hint within the errors to a null change both in the velocity and intensity amplitudes. At still higher frequencies, in the so called High-frequency Interference Peaks (HIPs) between 5.8mHz <nu < 6.8mHz, we found an enhancement in the velocity amplitudes with the maximum 36+-7 per cent occurring for 6.3mHz <nu< 6.8mHz. However, in intensity observations we found a rather smaller enhancement of about 5+-2 per cent in the same interval. There is evidence that the frequency dependence of solar-cycle velocity amplitude changes is consistent with the theory behind the mode conversion of acoustic waves in a non-vertical magnetic field, but there are some problems with the intensity data, which may be due to the height in the solar atmosphere at which the VIRGO data are taken.