972 research outputs found
MHD simulations of the solar photosphere
We briefly review the observations of the solar photosphere and pinpoint some
open questions related to the magnetohydrodynamics of this layer of the Sun. We
then discuss the current modelling efforts, addressing among other problems,
that of the origin of supergranulation.Comment: 10 pages, 6 figures; 4th French-Chinese Meeting on Solar Physics
Understanding Solar Activity: Advances and Challenges, 4th French-Chinese,
Nice, Franc
Relation between trees of fragmenting granules and supergranulation evolution
Context: The determination of the underlying mechanisms of the magnetic
elements diffusion over the solar surface is still a challenge. Understanding
the formation and evolution of the solar network (NE) is a challenge, because
it provides a magnetic flux over the solar surface comparable to the flux of
active regions at solar maximum. Aims: We investigate the structure and
evolution of interior cells of solar supergranulation. From Hinode
observations, we explore the motions on solar surface at high spatial and
temporal resolution. We derive the main organization of the flows inside
supergranules and their effect on the magnetic elements. Method: To probe the
superganule interior cell, we used the Trees of Fragmenting Granules (TFG)
evolution and their relations to horizontal Results: Evolution of TFG and their
mutual interactions result in cumulative effects able to build horizontal
coherent flows with longer lifetime than granulation (1 to 2 hours) over a
scale up to 12\arcsec. These flows clearly act on the diffusion of the
intranetwork (IN) magnetic elements and also on the location and shape of the
network. Conclusions: From our analysis during 24 hours, TFG appear as one of
the major elements of the supergranules which diffuse and advect the magnetic
field on the Sun's surface. The strongest supergranules contribute the most to
magnetic flux diffusion in the solar photosphere.Comment: 13 pages, 17 figures, accepted in Astronomy and Astrophysics movie :
http://www.lesia.obspm.fr/perso/jean-marie-malherbe/Hinode2007/hinode2007.htm
Comparison of solar surface flows inferred from time--distance helioseismology and coherent structure tracking using HMI/SDO observations
We compare measurements of horizontal flows on the surface of the Sun using
helioseismic time--distance inversions and coherent structure tracking of solar
granules. Tracking provides 2D horizontal flows on the solar surface, whereas
the time--distance inversions estimate the full 3-D velocity flows in the
shallow near-surface layers. Both techniques use HMI observations as an input.
We find good correlations between the various measurements resulting from the
two techniques. Further, we find a good agreement between these measurements
and the time-averaged Doppler line-of-sight velocity, and also perform sanity
checks on the vertical flow that resulted from the 3-D time--distance
inversion.Comment: 22 pages of the manuscript, 5 figures, 3 tables, accepted for
publication in the Astrophysical Journa
Tracking granules on the Sun's surface and reconstructing horizontal velocity fields: I. the CST algorithm
Determination of horizontal velocity fields on the solar surface is crucial
for understanding the dynamics of structures like mesogranulation or
supergranulation or simply the distribution of magnetic fields.
We pursue here the development of a method called CST for coherent structure
tracking, which determines the horizontal motion of granules in the field of
view.
We first devise a generalization of Strous method for the segmentation of
images and show that when segmentation follows the shape of granules more
closely, granule tracking is less effective for large granules because of
increased sensitivity to granule fragmentation. We then introduce the
multi-resolution analysis on the velocity field, based on Daubechies wavelets,
which provides a view of this field on different scales. An algorithm for
computing the field derivatives, like the horizontal divergence and the
vertical vorticity, is also devised. The effects from the lack of data or from
terrestrial atmospheric distortion of the images are also briefly discussed.Comment: in press in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 9 page
Polar cap magnetic field reversals during solar grand minima: could pores play a role?
We study the magnetic flux carried by pores located outside active regions
with sunspots and investigate their possible contribution to the reversal of
the global magnetic field of the Sun. We find that they contain a total flux of
comparable amplitude to the total magnetic flux contained in polar caps. The
pores located at distances of 40--100~Mm from the closest active region have
systematically the correct sign to contribute to the polar cap reversal. These
pores can predominantly be found in bipolar magnetic regions. We propose that
during grand minima of solar activity, such a systematic polarity trend, akin
to a weak magnetic (Babcock-Leighton-like) source term could still be operating
but was missed by the contemporary observers due to the limited resolving power
of their telescopes.Comment: 11 pages, 9 figures, accepted for publication in
Astronomy&Astrophysic
Tracking granules at the Sun's surface and reconstructing velocity fields. II. Error analysis
The determination of horizontal velocity fields at the solar surface is
crucial to understanding the dynamics and magnetism of the convection zone of
the sun. These measurements can be done by tracking granules.
Tracking granules from ground-based observations, however, suffers from the
Earth's atmospheric turbulence, which induces image distortion. The focus of
this paper is to evaluate the influence of this noise on the maps of velocity
fields.
We use the coherent structure tracking algorithm developed recently and apply
it to two independent series of images that contain the same solar signal.
We first show that a k-\omega filtering of the times series of images is
highly recommended as a pre-processing to decrease the noise, while, in
contrast, using destretching should be avoided. We also demonstrate that the
lifetime of granules has a strong influence on the error bars of velocities and
that a threshold on the lifetime should be imposed to minimize errors. Finally,
although solar flow patterns are easily recognizable and image quality is very
good, it turns out that a time sampling of two images every 21 s is not
frequent enough, since image distortion still pollutes velocity fields at a 30%
level on the 2500 km scale, i.e. the scale on which granules start to behave
like passive scalars.
The coherent structure tracking algorithm is a useful tool for noise control
on the measurement of surface horizontal solar velocity fields when at least
two independent series are available.Comment: in press in Astronomy and Astrophysics, 9 page
Management zone delineation using a modified watershed algorithm
Le zonage intra-parcellaire est une méthode couramment utilisée pour gérer la variabilité intra-parcellaire. Ce concept consiste à partitionner une parcelle en zones de management selon une ou plusieurs caractéristiques du sol et/ou du couvert végétal de cette parcelle. Cet article propose une méthode de zonage originale, basée sur l'utilisation d'une méthode de segmentation d'image puissante et rapide : l'algorithme de ligne de partage des eaux. Cet algorithme d'analyse d'image a été adapté aux spécificités de l'agriculture de précision. Les performances de notre méthodes ont été testées sur des cartes biophysiques haute résolution de plusieurs champs de blé situés en Bourgogne. / Site-specific management (SSM) is a common way to manage within-field variability. This concept divides fields into site-specific management zones (SSMZ) according to one or several soil or crop characteristics. This paper proposes an original methodology for SSMZ delineation which is able to manage different kinds of crop and/or soil images using a powerful segmentation tool: the watershed algorithm. This image analysis algorithm was adapted to the specific constraints of precision agriculture. The algorithm was tested on high-resolution bio-physical images of a set of fields in France.ZONAGE;PARCELLE;TELEDETECTION;BLE;SEGMENTATION D'IMAGE;AGRICULTURE DE PRECISION;FRANCE;BOURGOGNE;PRECISION AGRICULTURE;MANAGEMENT ZONES;REMOTE SENSING;IMAGE ANALYSIS;WATERSHED SEGMENTATION
The Role of Subsurface Flows in Solar Surface Convection: Modeling the Spectrum of Supergranular and Larger Scale Flows
We model the solar horizontal velocity power spectrum at scales larger than
granulation using a two-component approximation to the mass continuity
equation. The model takes four times the density scale height as the integral
(driving) scale of the vertical motions at each depth. Scales larger than this
decay with height from the deeper layers. Those smaller are assumed to follow a
Kolomogorov turbulent cascade, with the total power in the vertical convective
motions matching that required to transport the solar luminosity in a mixing
length formulation. These model components are validated using large scale
radiative hydrodynamic simulations. We reach two primary conclusions: 1. The
model predicts significantly more power at low wavenumbers than is observed in
the solar photospheric horizontal velocity spectrum. 2. Ionization plays a
minor role in shaping the observed solar velocity spectrum by reducing
convective amplitudes in the regions of partial helium ionization. The excess
low wavenumber power is also seen in the fully nonlinear three-dimensional
radiative hydrodynamic simulations employing a realistic equation of state.
This adds to other recent evidence suggesting that the amplitudes of large
scale convective motions in the Sun are significantly lower than expected.
Employing the same feature tracking algorithm used with observational data on
the simulation output, we show that the observed low wavenumber power can be
reproduced in hydrodynamic models if the amplitudes of large scale modes in the
deep layers are artificially reduced. Since the large scale modes have reduced
amplitudes, modes on the scale of supergranulation and smaller remain important
to convective heat flux even in the deep layers, suggesting that small scale
convective correlations are maintained through the bulk of the solar convection
zone.Comment: 36 pages, 6 figure
A simulation of solar convection at supergranulation scale
We present here numerical simulations of surface solar convection which cover
a box of 303.2 Mm with a resolution of
31582, which is used to investigate the dynamics of scales
larger than granulation. No structure resembling supergranulation is present;
possibly higher Reynolds numbers (i.e. higher numerical resolution), or
magnetic fields, or greater depth are necessary. The results also show
interesting aspects of granular dynamics which are briefly presented, like
extensive p-mode ridges in the k- diagram and a ringlike distribution
of horizontal vorticity around granules. At large scales, the horizontal
velocity is much larger than the vertical velocity and the vertical motion is
dominated by p-mode oscillations.Comment: Contribution to the proceedings of the workshop entitled "THEMIS and
the new frontiers of solar atmosphere dynamics" (March 2001), 6 pages, to
appear in Nuovo Cimento
On mesogranulation, network formation and supergranulation
We present arguments which show that in all likelihood mesogranulation is not
a true scale of solar convection but the combination of the effects of both
highly energetic granules, which give birth to strong positive divergences
(SPDs) among which we find exploders, and averaging effects of data processing.
The important role played by SPDs in horizontal velocity fields appears in the
spectra of these fields where the scale 4 Mm is most energetic; we
illustrate the effect of averaging with a one-dimensional toy model which shows
how two independent non-moving (but evolving) structures can be transformed
into a single moving structure when time and space resolution are degraded.
The role of SPDs in the formation of the photospheric network is shown by
computing the advection of floating corks by the granular flow. The coincidence
of the network bright points distribution and that of the corks is remarkable.
We conclude with the possibility that supergranulation is not a proper scale of
convection but the result of a large-scale instability of the granular flow,
which manifests itself through a correlation of the flows generated by SPDs.Comment: 10 pages, 11 figures, to appear in Astronomy and Astrophysic
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