Towards the reconstruction of the EUV irradiance for solar Cycle 23

We present preliminary reconstructions of the EUV from 26 to 34 nm from February 1997 to May 2005, covering most of solar cycle 23. The reconstruction is based on synthetic EUV spectra calculated with the spectral synthesis code Solar Modeling in 3D (SolMod3D). These spectra are weighted by the relative area coverage of the coronal features as identified from EIT images. The calculations are based on one-dimensional atmospheric structures that represent a temporal and spatial mean of the chromosphere, transition region, and corona. The employed segmentation analysis considers coronal holes, the quiet corona, and active regions identified on the solar disk. The reconstructed EUV irradiance shows a good agreement with observations taken with the CELIAS/SEM instrument onboard SOHO. Further improvement of the reconstruction including more solar features as well as the off-limb detection of activity features will be addressed in the near futur

Calculation of the Solar UV/EUV Spectrum in Spherical Symmetry

We present work in progress concerning spectral synthesis calculations of the solar UV/EUV in spherical symmetry carried out with the Solar Radiation Physical Modeling (SRPM) project. We compare the synthetic irradiance spectrum for the quiet Sun with the recent solar minimum spectrum taken with the EVE rocket instrument. The good agreement of the synthetic spectrum with the observation shows that the employed atmosphere structures are suitable for irradiance calculations.Comment: to appear in: Recent Directions in Astrophysical Quantitative Spectroscopy and Radiation Hydrodynamics, edited by I. Hubeny, K. Macgregor, and K. Werner, AIP Conference Proceeding

NLTE model calculations for the solar atmosphere with an iterative treatment of opacity distribution functions

Modeling the variability of the solar spectral irradiance is a key factor for understanding the solar influence on the climate of the Earth. As a first step to calculating the solar spectral irradiance variations we reproduce the solar spectrum for the quiet Sun over a broad wavelength range with an emphasis on the UV. We introduce the radiative transfer code COSI which calculates solar synthetic spectra under conditions of non-local thermodynamic equilibrium (NLTE). A self-consistent simultaneous solution of the radiative transfer and the statistical equation for the level populations guarantees that the correct physics is considered for wavelength regions where the assumption of local thermodynamic equilibrium (LTE) breaks down. The new concept of iterated opacity distribution functions (NLTE-ODFs), through which all line opacities are included in the NLTE radiative transfer calculation, is presented. We show that it is essential to include the line opacities in the radiative transfer to reproduce the solar spectrum in the UV. Through the implemented scheme of NLTE-ODFs the COSI code is successful in reproducing the spectral energy distribution of the quiet Sun.Comment: 13 pages, 9 figures. accepted for publication in Astronomy and Astrophysic

P-mode leakage and Lyman-α intensity

We present an observational test of the hypothesis that leaking p modes heat the solar chromosphere. The amplitude of the leaking p modes in magneto-acoustic portals is determined using MOTH and MDI data. We simulate the propagation of these modes into the chromosphere to determine the height where the wave energy is dissipated by shock waves. A statistical approach is then used to check if this heating process could account for the observed variability of the intensity in the Lyman-α emissio

Identification of photospheric activity features from SOHO/MDI data using the ASAP tool

YesThe variation of solar irradiance is one of the natural forcing mechanisms of the terrestrial climate. Hence, the time-dependent solar irradiance is an important input parameter for climate modelling. The solar surface magnetic field is a powerful proxy for solar irradiance reconstruction. The analyses of data obtained with the Michelson Doppler Imager (MDI) on board the SOHO mission are therefore useful for the identification of solar surface magnetic features to be used in solar irradiance reconstruction models. However, there is still a need for automated technologies that would enable the identification of solar activity features from large databases. To achieve this we present a series of enhanced segmentation algorithms developed to detect and calculate the area coverages of specific magnetic features from MDI intensitygrams and magnetograms. These algorithms are part of the Automated Solar Activity Prediction (ASAP) tool. The segmentation algorithms allow us to identify the areas on the solar disk covered by magnetic elements inside and outside boundaries of active regions. Depending on their contrast properties, magnetic features within an active region boundary are classified as sunspot umbra and penumbra, or faculae. Outside an active region boundary magnetic elements are identified as network. We present the detailed steps involved in the segmentation process and provide the area coverages of the segmented MDI intensitygrams and magnetograms. The feature segmentation was carried out on daily intensitygrams and magnetograms from April 21, 1996 to April 11, 2011. This offers an exciting opportunity to undertake further investigations that benefit from solar features segmentations, such as solar irradiance reconstruction, which we plan to investigate in the future

A new way to infer variations of the seismic solar radius

We show that the mean phase of waves propagating all the way from the far side of the Sun to the front side, as measured by seismic holography, varies with time. The change is highly anticorrelated with solar cycle activity and is consistent with other recent results on the variation of the seismic radius of the Sun. The phase change that we observe corresponds to a few kilometers difference in the seismic solar radius from solar maximum to solar minimum in agreement with inferrences from global helioseismology studies.Comment: 5 pages, accepted for publication in ApJ Letters (Dec 12 2008

Lower solar atmosphere and magnetism at ultra-high spatial resolution

We present the scientific case for a future space-based telescope aimed at very high spatial and temporal resolution imaging of the solar photosphere and chromosphere. Previous missions (e.g., HINODE, SUNRISE) have demonstrated the power of observing the solar photosphere and chromosphere at high spatial resolution without contamination from Earth's atmosphere. We argue here that increased spatial resolution (from currently 70 km to 25 km in the future) and high temporal cadence of the observations will vastly improve our understanding of the physical processes controlling solar magnetism and its characteristic scales. This is particularly important as the Sun's magnetic field drives solar activity and can significantly influence the Sun-Earth system. At the same time a better knowledge of solar magnetism can greatly improve our understanding of other astrophysical objects