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- ItemEffects of solar evolution on finite acquisition time of Fabry-Perot interferometers in high resolution solar physics(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Schlichenmaier, R.; Pitters, D.; Borrero, J.M.; Schubert, M.Context. The Visible Tunable Filter (VTF) imaging spectropolarimeter will be operated at the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST) in Hawaii. Due to its capability in resolving dynamic fine structure of smaller than 0.05 arcsec, the finite acquisition time of typically 11 s affects the measurement process and potentially causes errors in deduced physical parameters. Aims. We estimate these errors and investigate ways of minimising them. Methods. We mimicked the solar surface using a magnetohydrodynamic simulation with a spatially averaged vertical field strength of 200 G. We simulated the measurement process scanning through successive wavelength points with a temporal cadence of 1 s. We synthesised Fe 1617.3 nm for corresponding snapshots. In addition to the classical composition of the line profile, we introduce a novel method where the intensity in each wavelength point is normalised using the simultaneous continuum intensity, and then multiplied by the temporal mean of the continuum intensity. Milne-Eddington inversions were used to infer the line-of-sight velocity, vlos, and the vertical (longitudinal) component of the magnetic field, Blos. Results. We quantify systematic errors, defining the temporal average of the simulation during the measurement as the truth. We find that with the classical composition of the line profiles, errors exceed the sensitivity for vlos, and in filigree regions also for Blos. The novel method that includes normalisation reduces the measurement errors in all cases. Spatial binning without reducing the acquisition time decreases the measurement error slightly. Conclusions. The evolutionary timescale in inter-granular lanes, in particular in areas with magnetic features (filigree), is shorter than the timescale within granules. Hence, depending on the science objective, fewer accumulations could be used for strong magnetic field in inter-granular lanes and more accumulations could be used for the weak granular magnetic fields. As a key result of this investigation, we suggest including the novel method of normalisation in corresponding data pipelines.
- ItemCombining magneto-hydrostatic constraints with Stokes profiles inversions: III. Uncertainty in the inference of electric currents(Les Ulis : EDP Sciences, 2023) Borrero, J.M.; Pastor Yabar, A.Electric currents play an important role in the energy balance of the plasma in the solar atmosphere. They are also indicative of non-potential magnetic fields and magnetic reconnection. Unfortunately, the direct measuring of electric currents has traditionally been riddled with inaccuracies. Aims. We study how accurately we can infer electric currents under different scenarios. Methods. We carry out increasingly complex inversions of the radiative transfer equation for polarized light applied to Stokes profiles synthesized from radiative three-dimensional magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations. The inversion yields the magnetic field vector. B. from which the electric current density, ./, is derived by applying Ampere's law. Results. We find that the retrieval of the electric current density is only slightly affected by photon noise or spectral resolution. However, the retrieval steadily improves as the Stokes inversion becomes increasingly elaborated. In the least complex case (a Milne- Eddington-like inversion applied to a single spectral region), it is possible to determine the individual components of the electric current density (jx, jy, jz) with an accuracy of cr = 0.90 - l.OOdex, whereas the modulus (|[/
- ItemEvolution of the fine structure of magnetic fields in the quiet Sun: Observations from Sunrise/IMaX and extrapolations(Heidelberg : Springer, 2013) Wiegelmann, T.; Solanki, S.K.; Borrero, J.M.; Peter, H.; Barthol, P.; Gandorfer, A.; Martínez Pillet, V.; Schmidt, W.; Knölker, M.Observations with the balloon-borne Sunrise/Imaging Magnetograph eXperiment (IMaX) provide high spatial resolution (roughly 100 km at disk center) measurements of the magnetic field in the photosphere of the quiet Sun. To investigate the magnetic structure of the chromosphere and corona, we extrapolate these photospheric measurements into the upper solar atmosphere and analyze a 22-minute long time series with a cadence of 33 seconds. Using the extrapolated magnetic-field lines as tracer, we investigate temporal evolution of the magnetic connectivity in the quiet Sun’s atmosphere. The majority of magnetic loops are asymmetric in the sense that the photospheric field strength at the loop foot points is very different. We find that the magnetic connectivity of the loops changes rapidly with a typical connection recycling time of about 3±1 minutes in the upper solar atmosphere and 12±4 minutes in the photosphere. This is considerably shorter than previously found. Nonetheless, our estimate of the energy released by the associated magnetic-reconnection processes is not likely to be the sole source for heating the chromosphere and corona in the quiet Sun.
- ItemPolarization Calibration of the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)(Heidelberg : Springer, 2012) Schou, J.; Borrero, J.M.; Norton, A.A.; Tomczyk, S.; Elmore, D.; Card, G.L.As part of the overall ground-based calibration of the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument an extensive set of polarimetric calibrations were performed. This paper describes the polarimetric design of the instrument, the test setup, the polarimetric model, the tests performed, and some results. It is demonstrated that HMI achieves an accuracy of 1% or better on the crosstalks between Q, U, and V and that our model can reproduce the intensities in our calibration sequences to about 0.4%. The amount of depolarization is negligible when the instrument is operated as intended which, combined with the flexibility of the polarimeter design, means that the polarimetric efficiency is excellent.