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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
SIDC GROUND-BASED CONTRIBUTION TO
SOTERIA
Frédéric Clette
SIDC - ROB
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
OUTLINE
1.
2.
Production of solar images:

Synoptic CCD images of the photosphere > WP2

Hα, CaII-K high-cadence > WP3
Recovery of past visual information:

3.
Systematic 60-year catalog of sunspot groups from the Uccle visual drawings
Image-based photospheric indices
Areas of collaboration in red
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
SPACE CLIMATE SAMPLER
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Need for long-term detailed info:
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Global spatial patterns:
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Most studies limited to last 30-60 years (only « Grand Maximum »)
Beyond, total sunspot index (1-D time series)
Importance of hemispheric asymmetries and time delays.
Butterfly diagrams (North-South asymmetries)
Active longitudes (position of heliospheric current sheet, CME angular
distribution)
Dynamo: start and end of cycles > flux transport and decay
Morphological sunspot group parameters:
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Dynamo:
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Dipole tilt and reconstruction of poloidal field (Babcock-Leighton mechanism)
Signature of diffusive versus advective modes in kinematic dynamos?
Signature of emerging flux rope « explosion »?
Irradiance (TSI, SSI):
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Differences in ascending/descending phases of cycles
Index families: strong emerging fields versus weak dispersed field (delay)
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
PRODUCTION OF SOLAR IMAGES
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Upgrade of the White-light telescope
(D=150mm):
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New 2kx2k camera [July 2008]
New optimized focal reducer under
test
1kx1k images (2003-2008): 2-3/day
Upgrade of the Hα telescope
(D=80mm):
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New 0.5Å Fabry-Pérot
monochromator
New 2kx2k CCD camera [January
2008]
1kx1k images (2003-2007): mainly
synoptic, <10/day
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
PRODUCTION OF SOLAR IMAGES
CaII K

CaII K telescope (D=132mm):
Coming soon
 Telescope,
filters & 2Kx2K camera delivered
 Barr filters: 2Å filters (cf. PSPT)
 Remaining tasks:
 Relay
optics (Telecentric Barlow)
 Mechanical assembly
 Needed
support:
 Optical
 Start
design
of operations: Early 2010
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
PRODUCTION OF SOLAR IMAGES
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Implementation of image
calibration (flat-fielding):
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Software:
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Solar pointer [Spring 2010]
Independent motorized telescope
off points [mid-2009 to end-2009]
flat-field extraction, limb-darkening
extraction
Image sorting & selection, event
detection
Coordination and common
standards
Support both to WP2 and WP3
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
PRODUCTION OF SOLAR IMAGES

Need for coordination (G-B observation working group):
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File format: filenaming, FITS header keywords (WP6)
Observing procedures:
Synoptic (W-L, CaII K): cadence, image quality measure
 Flares & Moreton waves (Hα, CaII K + W-L?): cadence,
(semi)automatic detection tools, event flags in header?
 Graphics format for real-time diffusion: file type, disk size,
orientation, contrast/intensity settings
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Instrumentation:
Imaging system documentation & comparison
 Exchange of practical & technical experience: optimization and
homogenization, design.
 Core of ground-base solar patrol observing community? (Cf. JOSO)

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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
RECOVERY OF PAST VISUAL INFORMATION

ROB action items:

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Development of a « universal » sunspot
drawing measurement software tool
(DIGISUN) [mid-2009]
Digitization of the Uccle drawing series
[mid 2009-2011] :
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1940-today, > 20000 drawings, 270
days/year (duty cycle: ~75%)
Development of a sunspot group tracking
software: connection of all observations of
the same group in a chronological
sequence [end 2010]
Sunspot catalogs [2011]:
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Raw measurements (level 0)
Active region catalog (level 1): lifetime history
for each sunspot group (evolution, rotation
rate, etc.)
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
RECOVERY OF PAST VISUAL INFORMATION
Sunspot group
Parameter
Measure of
Applications
Group count & Wolf number (total)
Emerging magnetic flux
•Activity indices
•Dynamo theory
Group count & Wolf number
(hemispheric)
Asymmetry between North and South
dynamos
•Activity indices
•Dynamo theory
Sunspot count (per group)
Single flux rope emergence
•Dynamo theory (flux emergence)
•Flare prediction
Zürich classification (Brunner, 1939)
Magnetic dipole size and complexity
•Flare prediction
McIntosh classification (McIntosh, 1990)
Magnetic dipole size and complexity
•Flare prediction
Group size & E-W extent
Magnetic dipole size
•Dynamo theory (flux emergence)
Main spot spacing
Magnetic dipole size
•Dynamo theory (flux emergence)
Main spot dipole orientation
Magnetic dipole tilt
•Dynamo theory (dipolar flux
regeneration)
Group latitude
•Inclusion in a specific solar cycle
•Latitude of the « dynamo wave »
•Dynamo theory (flux generation)
Group longitude
•Longitude of flux emergence
•Rotation rate
•Dynamo theory (flux generation)
•Differential rotation (convection theory)
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
RECOVERY OF PAST VISUAL INFORMATION
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Byproduct: application of the « group
history » tool to other WP2 sunspot
catalogs [2011]
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Would allow the combination of
datasets and filling in data gaps
(temporal, resolution threshold).
Need to apply common standards
(classification, group position)
Prospects for other data sets
(already scanned or not) [2011 or
post-SOTERIA]:

Candidates? (Konkoly, Kanzelhöhe, Zürich-Locarno +
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Drawings available in which form?
(paper, microfilm, digitized)
Duration and number?
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Saklnate-Pleso, Catania?)
DIGISUN prototype
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
IMAGE-BASED INDICES
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ROB action items:
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Survey of past photospheric indices (end 2009)
Design of new index definitions (end 2009)
Computation of whole set of indices on SOTERIA data sets
(2010)
Analysis of figure of merit of the various indices (2011):
dependency on detector type, optical parameters, images
quality/seeing, level of solar activity, seasonal effects, etc.
Input needed:
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Survey of available sunspot parameters in past catalogs
Specification of sunspot parameters to be measured in
SOTERIA data sets: mainly SDD (SOHO/MDI, Debrecen) +
Kanzelhöhe, Uccle, …?
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
IMAGE-BASED INDICES
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Input & coordination needed (All WP2 or WG?):
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Existing Sunspot catalogs (+ faculae?): DPD
(Konkoly), Kanzelhöhe (hemispheric?), Uccle + others?
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New catalogs produced by SOTERIA WP2:
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SOHO/MDI continuum
Choice of a common tool for all data sets (KO?)
Index correlation tools:
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Timeline of availability?
Identify now the need to add new
measurements (sunspot parameters)?
Sunspot extraction tools:
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Which valid catalogs do we have at our
disposal?
Which parameters do they contain?
Input from WP5 “Irradiance”: proxies validation
(mutual information measure ?)
Byproduct (WP6): catalog standardization

Application-oriented selection and definition
of sunspot and faculae descriptors
USET/Uccle
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
IMAGE-BASED INDICES
Sunspot parameters
Measurement
Interest
Limitation
Sunspot count (total)
Proportional to total magnetic flux
No clustering info
Mixes both hemispheres
Sunspot count (hemispheric)
Splitting North/South
No clustering info
Sunspot area (total)
Proportional to total magnetic flux
No clustering info
Mixes both hemispheres
Sunspot area (hemispheric)
Splitting North/South
No clustering info
Umbral area
Isolates strong core magnetic field
No clustering info
Only complementary info
Penumbral area
Isolates weaker peripheral field
No clustering info
Only complementary info
Group count (total)
Actual magnetic dipole count
No measure of dipole magnitude
Mixes both hemispheres
Group count (hemispheric)
Splitting North/South
No measure of dipole magnitude
Group classification
Magnetic complexity
Various classification schemes
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
IMAGE-BASED INDICES
Facular parameters
Measurement
Interest
Limitation
Facular area (total)
Proportional to total magnetic flux
No clustering info
Mixes both hemispheres
Facular area (hemispheric)
Splitting North/South
No clustering info
Facular plage count (total)
Count of weakly magnetized regions
No measure of plage extent
Mixes both hemispheres
Facular plage count
(hemispheric)
Splitting North/South
No measure of plage extent
Facular plage classification
Magnetic association (active region,
isolated, polar)
Classification dependant on
chronological history.
Facular contrast
Link with magnetic field strength
Complex dependencies (center-limb
geometry, etc.)
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SOTERIA Coordination Meeting, Lapland
March 2009
CONCLUSION

Joint work needed to answer three questions:
What is the sunspot information that is needed and
that we can extract?
 How do we measure it?
 How can we adjust current and future observations
towards a more homogeneous standard?
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Focus on what we can gain by working together:
Facilitating seamless access to parallel data sets
 Combining data sets: the total has more value than the
sum of separate data sets.
 Increasing the compatibility of future observations as a
necessary step towards real operational GB networks.

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