scholarly journals Comparison of theoretical and observed Ca II 8542 Stokes profiles in quiet regions at the centre of the solar disc

2018 ◽  
Vol 619 ◽  
pp. A60 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. Jurčák ◽  
J. Štěpán ◽  
J. Trujillo Bueno ◽  
M. Bianda

Context. Interpreting the Stokes profiles observed in quiet regions of the solar chromosphere is a challenging task. The Stokes Q and U profiles are dominated by the scattering polarisation and the Hanle effect, and these processes can only be correctly quantified if 3D radiative transfer effects are taken into account. Forward-modelling of the intensity and polarisation of spectral lines using a 3D model atmosphere is a suitable approach in order to statistically compare the theoretical and observed line profiles. Aims. Our aim is to present novel observations of the Ca II 8542 Å line profiles in a quiet region at the centre of the solar disc and to quantitatively compare them with the theoretical Stokes profiles obtained by solving the problem of the generation and transfer of polarised radiation in a 3D model atmosphere. We aim at estimating the reliability of the 3D model atmosphere, excluding its known lack of dynamics and/or insufficient density, using not only the line intensity but the full vector of Stokes parameters. Methods. We used data obtained with the ZIMPOL instrument at the Istituto Ricerche Solari Locarno (IRSOL) and compared the observations with the theoretical profiles computed with the PORTA radiative transfer code, using as solar model atmosphere a 3D snapshot taken from a radiation-magnetohydrodynamics simulation. The synthetic profiles were degraded to match the instrument and observing conditions. Results. The degraded theoretical profiles of the Ca II 8542 line are qualitatively similar to the observed ones. We confirm that there is a fundamental difference in the widths of all Stokes profiles: the observed lines are wider than the theoretical lines. We find that the amplitudes of the observed profiles are larger than those of the theoretical ones, which suggests that the symmetry breaking effects in the solar chromosphere are stronger than in the model atmosphere. This means that the isosurfaces of temperature, velocity, and magnetic field strength and orientation are more corrugated in the solar chromosphere than in the currently available 3D radiation-magnetohydrodynamics simulation.

2001 ◽  
Vol 203 ◽  
pp. 192-194
Author(s):  
E. V. Khomenko

We do modeling of the wave propagation in the solar photosphere. NLTE synthesis of the time series of the Fe I 5324 Å line profiles is performed using 3D model atmosphere. Velocity and intensity oscillations resulted from computations are compared with high spatial resolution observations. We conclulde that differences in oscillatory amplitudes above granules and intergranular lanes can be produced by variations of the physical conditions in these structures without invoking any excitation mechanisms.


2019 ◽  
Vol 623 ◽  
pp. A74 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. de la Cruz Rodríguez ◽  
J. Leenaarts ◽  
S. Danilovic ◽  
H. Uitenbroek

The inference of the underlying state of the plasma in the solar chromosphere remains extremely challenging because of the nonlocal character of the observed radiation and plasma conditions in this layer. Inversion methods allow us to derive a model atmosphere that can reproduce the observed spectra by undertaking several physical assumptions. The most advanced approaches involve a depth-stratified model atmosphere described by temperature, line-of-sight velocity, turbulent velocity, the three components of the magntic field vector, and gas and electron pressure. The parameters of the radiative transfer equation are computed from a solid ground of physical principles. In order to apply these techniques to spectral lines that sample the chromosphere, nonlocal thermodynamical equilibrium effects must be included in the calculations. We developed a new inversion code STiC (STockholm inversion Code) to study spectral lines that sample the upper chromosphere. The code is based on the RH forward synthesis code, which we modified to make the inversions faster and more stable. For the first time, STiC facilitates the processing of lines from multiple atoms in non-LTE, also including partial redistribution effects (PRD) in angle and frequency of scattered photons. Furthermore, we include a regularization strategy that allows for model atmospheres with a complex depth stratification, without introducing artifacts in the reconstructed physical parameters, which are usually manifested in the form of oscillatory behavior. This approach takes steps toward a node-less inversion, in which the value of the physical parameters at each grid point can be considered a free parameter. In this paper we discuss the implementation of the aforementioned techniques, the description of the model atmosphere, and the optimizations that we applied to the code. We carry out some numerical experiments to show the performance of the code and the regularization techniques that we implemented. We made STiC publicly available to the community.


1993 ◽  
Vol 138 ◽  
pp. 247-257
Author(s):  
William Wehlau ◽  
John Rice

AbstractThe mapping of stellar surfaces using the observed profiles of spectral lines is described. The problem is expressed in terms of an integral equation to be solved, using Tikhonov’s method. The local line profiles may be given either by an analytic approximation or by the solution of the equation of transfer with a model atmosphere. The model atmospheres commonly used may not correctly represent the stellar atmosphere which may lead to errors in the derived surface maps. Tests of mapping programs and applications to real stars show the capabilities and limitations of surface mapping. Mapping stellar magnetic fields places more severe demands on the data and computational programs than mapping the abundance distributions.


2018 ◽  
Vol 617 ◽  
pp. A24 ◽  
Author(s):  
I. Milić ◽  
M. van Noort

Context. Inversion codes are computer programs that fit a model atmosphere to the observed Stokes spectra, thus retrieving the relevant atmospheric parameters. The rising interest in the solar chromosphere, where spectral lines are formed by scattering, requires developing, testing, and comparing new non-local thermal equilibrium (NLTE) inversion codes. Aims. We present a new NLTE inversion code that is based on the analytical computation of the response functions. We named the code SNAPI, which is short for spectropolarimetic NLTE analytically powered inversion. Methods. SNAPI inverts full Stokes spectrum in order to obtain a depth-dependent stratification of the temperature, velocity, and the magnetic field vector. It is based on the so-called node approach, where atmospheric parameters are free to vary in several fixed points in the atmosphere, and are assumed to behave as splines in between. We describe the inversion approach in general and the specific choices we have made in the implementation. Results. We test the performance on one academic problem and on two interesting NLTE examples, the Ca II 8542 and Na I D spectral lines. The code is found to have excellent convergence properties and outperforms a finite-difference based code in this specific implementation by at least a factor of three. We invert synthetic observations of Na lines from a small part of a simulated solar atmosphere and conclude that the Na lines reliably retrieve the magnetic field and velocity in the range −3 <  logτ <  −0.5.


1977 ◽  
Vol 36 ◽  
pp. 191-215
Author(s):  
G.B. Rybicki

Observations of the shapes and intensities of spectral lines provide a bounty of information about the outer layers of the sun. In order to utilize this information, however, one is faced with a seemingly monumental task. The sun’s chromosphere and corona are extremely complex, and the underlying physical phenomena are far from being understood. Velocity fields, magnetic fields, Inhomogeneous structure, hydromagnetic phenomena – these are some of the complications that must be faced. Other uncertainties involve the atomic physics upon which all of the deductions depend.


2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (S356) ◽  
pp. 94-94
Author(s):  
Marco Berton

AbstractLine profiles can provide fundamental information on the physics of active galactic nuclei (AGN). In the case of narrow-line Seyfert 1 galaxies (NLS1s) this is of particular importance since past studies revealed how their permitted line profiles are well reproduced by a Lorentzian function instead of a Gaussian. This has been explained with different properties of the broad-line region (BLR), which may present more pronounced turbulent motions in NLS1s with respect to other AGN. We investigated the line profiles in a recent large NLS1 sample classified using SDSS, and we divided the sources into two subsamples according to their line shapes, Gaussian or Lorentzian. The line profiles seem to separate all the properties of NLS1s. Black hole mass, Eddington ratio, [OIII] luminosity, and Fe II strength are all very different in the Lorentzian and Gaussian samples, as well as their position on the quasar main sequence. We interpret this in terms of evolution within the class of NLS1s. The Lorentzian sources may be the youngest objects, while Gaussian profiles may be typically associated to more evolved objects. Further detailed spectroscopic studies are needed to fully confirm our hypothesis.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (11) ◽  
pp. 4121-4134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Peter R. Colarco ◽  
Santiago Gassó ◽  
Changwoo Ahn ◽  
Virginie Buchard ◽  
Arlindo M. da Silva ◽  
...  

Abstract. We provide an analysis of the commonly used Ozone Monitoring Instrument (OMI) aerosol index (AI) product for qualitative detection of the presence and loading of absorbing aerosols. In our analysis, simulated top-of-atmosphere (TOA) radiances are produced at the OMI footprints from a model atmosphere and aerosol profile provided by the NASA Goddard Earth Observing System (GEOS-5) Modern-Era Retrospective Analysis for Research and Applications aerosol reanalysis (MERRAero). Having established the credibility of the MERRAero simulation of the OMI AI in a previous paper we describe updates in the approach and aerosol optical property assumptions. The OMI TOA radiances are computed in cloud-free conditions from the MERRAero atmospheric state, and the AI is calculated. The simulated TOA radiances are fed to the OMI near-UV aerosol retrieval algorithms (known as OMAERUV) is compared to the MERRAero calculated AI. Two main sources of discrepancy are discussed: one pertaining to the OMI algorithm assumptions of the surface pressure, which are generally different from what the actual surface pressure of an observation is, and the other related to simplifying assumptions in the molecular atmosphere radiative transfer used in the OMI algorithms. Surface pressure assumptions lead to systematic biases in the OMAERUV AI, particularly over the oceans. Simplifications in the molecular radiative transfer lead to biases particularly in regions of topography intermediate to surface pressures of 600 and 1013.25 hPa. Generally, the errors in the OMI AI due to these considerations are less than 0.2 in magnitude, though larger errors are possible, particularly over land. We recommend that future versions of the OMI algorithms use surface pressures from readily available atmospheric analyses combined with high-spatial-resolution topographic maps and include more surface pressure nodal points in their radiative transfer lookup tables.


2007 ◽  
Vol 3 (S243) ◽  
pp. 83-94
Author(s):  
Tim J. Harries

AbstractEmission line profiles from pre-main-sequence objects accreting via magnetically-controlled funnel flows encode information on the geometry and kinematics of the material on stellar radius scales. In order to extract this information it is necessary to perform radiative-transfer modelling of the gas to produce synthetic line profiles. In this review I discuss the physics that needs to be included in such models, and the numerical methods and assumptions that are used to render the problem tractable. I review the progress made in the field over the last decade, and summarize the main successes and failures of the modelling work.


2018 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 3-13
Author(s):  
Ирина Турова ◽  
Irina Turova ◽  
София Григорьева ◽  
Sofiya Grigoryeva ◽  
Ольга Ожогина ◽  
...  

We have studied Ca II K line profiles, using two time series of spectrograms taken in two regions near the solar disk center. In each of the regions, the spectrograph slit cut out several areas of the quiet region and a plage. For the selected chromospheric structures, we have derived K line profiles and have defined a number of parameters that characterize the spatial and temporal variations of the profiles. The analysis of profile shapes in different structures belonging to the same moment of time has shown that there are structures whose profiles differ only slightly from each other in the photosphere, but differ dramatically in the chromosphere. The structures begin to differ from the level of formation of K1 and continue to differ further in the chromosphere. There are, however, structures which begin to differ at the level of the photosphere and continue to differ in the chromosphere. The difference between profile shapes in different structures is likely to be associated both with different thermodynamic conditions and with different magnetic field topology at a given point at a given time. We have examined temporal variations of the K Ca II line profiles in structural chromospheric elements, which are caused by the process of K2v-grains. In most of the studied areas of the chromospheric structures, the brightening of the K2v peak develops according to the “common” scenario: at the time of maximum bright-ness, the line shifts toward the red side. There are, however, cases when the brightening of the K2v peak occurs with a shift of the line to the violet side or with no shift at all. We have constructed scatter plots for some pairs of profile parameters related to intensities at characteristic points of the profile and their shifts. A correlation has been found between intensities in the center and wings of the K line. The correlation between shifts of the K2v and K2r peaks is very weak or completely absent.


2017 ◽  
pp. 71-86
Author(s):  
Ü.D. Göker ◽  
M.Sh. Gigolashvili ◽  
N. Kapanadze

A study of variations of solar spectral irradiance (SSI) in the wave-length ranges 121.5 nm-300.5 nm for the period 1981-2009 is presented. We used various data for ultraviolet (UV) spectral lines and international sunspot number (ISSN) from interactive data centers such as SME (NSSDC), UARS (GDAAC), SORCE (LISIRD) and SIDC, respectively. We reduced these data by using the MATLsoftware package. In this respect, we revealed negative correlations of intensities of UV (289.5 nm-300.5 nm) spectral lines originating in the solar chromosphere with the ISSN index during the unusually prolonged minimum between the solar activity cycles (SACs) 23 and 24. We also compared our results with the variations of solar activity indices obtained by the ground-based telescopes. Therefore, we found that plage regions decrease while facular areas are increasing in SAC 23. However, the decrease in plage regions is seen in small sunspot groups (SGs), contrary to this, these regions in large SGs are comparable to previous SACs or even larger as is also seen in facular areas. Nevertheless, negative correlations between ISSN and SSI data indicate that these variations are in close connection with the classes of sunspots/SGs, faculae and plage regions. Finally, we applied the time series analysis of spectral lines corresponding to the wavelengths 121.5 nm-300.5 nm and made comparisons with the ISSN data. We found an unexpected increase in the 298.5 nm line for the Fe II ion. The variability of Fe II ion 298.5 nm line is in close connection with the facular areas and plage regions, and the sizes of these solar surface indices play an important role for the SSI variability, as well. So, we compared the connection between the sizes of faculae and plage regions, sunspots/SGs, chemical elements and SSI variability. Our future work will be the theoretical study of this connection and developing of a corresponding model.


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