Between international donors and local faith communities: Intermediaries in humanitarian assistance to Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon

This paper explores the crucial part that faith‐based organisations (FBOs) play in acting as intermediaries between international donors and local faith communities (LFCs) implementing humanitarian relief projects for Syrian refugees. Humanitarian responses to the mounting Syrian refugee crisis have coincided with greater collaboration between international donors and LFCs. This cooperation often is facilitated by a complex web of non‐state intermediaries at the international, national, and local level. This study probes the breadth of roles of these intermediaries, drawing on primary data from case studies of two Christian intermediaries supporting Christian LFCs as they deliver aid primarily to Muslim Syrian refugees in Jordan and Lebanon. The results of the study are connected to the wider literature on LFCs in humanitarian response, revealing how intermediaries address issues of accountability, capacity‐building, impartiality, neutrality, and professionalism. The paper concludes by offering suggestions for further research on intermediaries as key actors in the localisation of humanitarian assistance

Acoustic Events in the Solar Atmosphere from Hinode/SOT NFI observations

We investigate the properties of acoustic events (AEs), defined as spatially concentrated and short duration energy flux, in the quiet sun using observations of a 2D field of view (FOV) with high spatial and temporal resolution provided by the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) onboard \textit{Hinode}. Line profiles of Fe \textsc{i} 557.6 nm were recorded by the Narrow band Filter Imager (NFI) on a $82" \times 82"$ FOV during 75 min with a time step of 28.75 s and 0.08$"$ pixel size. Vertical velocities were computed at three atmospheric levels (80, 130 and 180 km) using the bisector technique allowing the determination of energy flux in the range 3-10 mHz using two complementary methods (Hilbert transform and Fourier power spectra). Horizontal velocities were computed using local correlation tracking (LCT) of continuum intensities providing divergences. The net energy flux is upward. In the range 3-10 mHz, a full FOV space and time averaged flux of 2700 W m$^{-2}$ (lower layer 80-130 km) and 2000 W m$^{-2}$ (upper layer 130-180 km) is concentrated in less than 1% of the solar surface in the form of narrow (0.3$"$) AE. Their total duration (including rise and decay) is of the order of $10^{3}$ s. Inside each AE, the mean flux is $1.6 10^{5}$ W m$^{-2}$ (lower layer) and $1.2 10^{5}$ W m$^{-2}$ (upper). Each event carries an average energy (flux integrated over space and time) of $2.5 10^{19}$ J (lower layer) to $1.9 10^{19}$ J (upper). More than $10^{6}$ events could exist permanently on the Sun, with a birth and decay rate of 3500 s$^{-1}$. Most events occur in intergranular lanes, downward velocity regions, and areas of converging motions.Comment: 18 pages, 10 figure