We discuss NICOLE inversions of Fe I 630.15 nm and 630.25 nm Stokes spectra
from a sunspot penumbra recorded with the CRISP imaging spectropolarimeter on
the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope at a spatial resolution close to 0.15". We
report on narrow radially extended lanes of opposite polarity field, located at
the boundaries between areas of relatively horizontal magnetic field (the
intra-spines) and much more vertical field (the spines). These lanes harbor
convective downflows of about 1 km/s. The locations of these downflows close to
the spines agree with predictions from the convective gap model (the "gappy
penumbra") proposed six years ago, and more recent 3D MHD simulations. We also
confirm the existence of strong convective flows throughout the entire
penumbra, showing the expected correlation between temperature and vertical
velocity, and having vertical RMS velocities of about 1.2 km/s.Comment: Accepted for publication in A&A (06-March-2013). Minor corrections
made in this version
