The heating of the solar corona

In this paper a discussion is given of the present state of the theory of the heating of the solar corona by shock waves. Arguments are presented why the main contribution to the mechanical energy flux is of acoustic origin, while estimates for the amount of acoustic energy generated in the convection zone as well as the deviations from isotropy are given. During propagation through the atmosphere acoustic waves develop into shock waves after a distance of a few scale heights in the chromosphere. The heating of the outer layers by dissipation of shock waves is found to be sufficient to account for the observed radiative and corpuscular energy losses.Much emphasis is laid on the competitive role played by the four fundamental processes of energy transfer: mechanical heating, radiation, heat conduction and convection of energy in establishing the equilibrium structure of the corona. The atmosphere may be divided in several regions according to the predominance of one of the energy processes mentioned above.The physical properties of the chromosphere and the solar wind are discussed only where they are intimately connected with the problem of the heating of the corona.The most important aspects of the influence of a magnetic field on the structure and the heating of the corona in magnetically active regions are briefly mentioned. Special attention is paid to the strong channelling of heat flow along the field lines and its consequences for the structure and dynamics of the chromosphere-corona transition layer.     

Coupling from the Photosphere to the Chromosphere and the Corona

The atmosphere of the Sun is characterized by a complex interplay of competing physical processes: convection, radiation, conduction, and magnetic fields. The most obvious imprint of the solar convection and its overshooting in the low atmosphere is the granulation pattern. Beside this dominating scale there is a more or less smooth distribution of spatial scales, both towards smaller and larger scales, making the Sun essentially a multi-scale object. Convection and overshooting give the photosphere its face but also act as drivers for the layers above, namely the chromosphere and corona. The magnetic field configuration effectively couples the atmospheric layers on a multitude of spatial scales, for instance in the form of loops that are anchored in the convection zone and continue through the atmosphere up into the chromosphere and corona. The magnetic field is also an important structuring agent for the small, granulation-size scales, although (hydrodynamic) shock waves also play an important role—especially in the internetwork atmosphere where mostly weak fields prevail. Based on recent results from observations and numerical simulations, we attempt to present a comprehensive picture of the atmosphere of the quiet Sun as a highly intermittent and dynamic system.     

Observations of the Martian Subsolar ENA Jet Oscillations

The Neutral Particle Detector (NPD) of the ASPERA-3 experiment (Analyser of Space Plasmas and Energetic Atoms) on board the Mars Express (MEX) spacecraft observed an intense flux of H ENAs (energetic neutral atoms) with average energy of about 1.5 keV emitted anisotropically from the subsolar region of Mars. The NPD detected the ENA jet near the bow shock at radial distances of about 1 R _M from the Martian surface as the spacecraft moved outbound, while the NPD continuously pointed towards the subsolar region. The jet intensity shows oscillative behavior. These intensity variations occur on two clearly distinguishable time scales. The majority of the identified events have an average oscillation period of about 50 sec. The second group consists of events with long-scale variations with a time scale of approximately 300 sec. The fast oscillations of the first group exhibit a periodic structure and are detected in every orbit, while the slow variations of the second group are identified in ∼40% of orbits. The intensity of the fast oscillations have a peak-to-valley ratio about 20 to 30% of the peak intensity. One of the possible mechanisms to explain fast oscillations is the formation of the low frequency ion waves at the subsolar region of Mars. Slow variations may be explained by either temporal variations in the ENA generation source or by a specific structure of the ENA generation source, in which hair-like ENA subjets can be present.     

Large Scale Flows in the Solar Convection Zone

We discuss the current theoretical understanding of the large scale flows observed in the solar convection zone, namely the differential rotation and meridional circulation. Based on multi-D numerical simulations we describe which physical processes are at the origin of these large scale flows, how they are maintained and what sets their unique profiles. We also discuss how dynamo generated magnetic field may influence such a delicate dynamical balance and lead to a temporal modulation of the amplitude and profiles of the solar large scale flows.     

Dynamical Control of the Middle Atmosphere

This review recapitulates the concept of the wave-driven residual circulation in the stratosphere and mesosphere. The residual circulation is defined as the conventional mean meridional circulation corrected by the quasi-linear Stokes drift due to atmospheric waves. Only when the zonal-mean primitive equations are transformed using the residual circulation, they reflect the causality arising from the Eliassen-Palm (EP) theorem. The EP theorem states that the proper wave-mean flow interaction, defined as the EP flux divergence, vanishes for waves that are linear, conservative, and steady. In the real atmosphere, this theorem is violated mainly due to wave breaking and turbulence. The resulting EP flux divergence then drives a residual circulation which causes the observed substantial deviations from some hypothetical radiatively determined state. With regard to this dynamical control we discuss the different contributions of Rossby waves and gravity waves. Recapitulation of Lindzen’s theory of gravity-wave saturation allows us to interpret various phenomena in the upper mesosphere such as interhemispheric coupling or modulations of the gravity-wave driven branch of the residual circulation by solar proton effects and thermal tides. In addition we discuss the relative importance of changes in radiative transfer and tropospheric gravity-wave sources on the long-term temperature trends in the summer mesosphere.     

The Response of the Middle Atmosphere to Solar Cycle Forcing in the Hamburg Model of the Neutral and Ionized Atmosphere

This paper studies the response of the middle atmosphere to the 11-year solar cycle. The study is based on numerical simulations with the Hamburg Model of the Neutral and Ionized Atmosphere (HAMMONIA), a chemistry climate model that resolves the atmosphere from the Earth’s surface up to about 250 km. Results presented here are obtained in two multi-year time-slice runs for solar maximum and minimum conditions, respectively. The magnitude of the simulated annual and zonal mean stratospheric response in temperature and ozone corresponds well to observations. The dynamical model response is studied for northern hemisphere winter. Here, the zonal mean wind change differs substantially from observations. The statistical significance of the model’s dynamical response is, however, poor for most regions of the atmosphere. Finally, we discuss several issues that render the evaluation of model results with available analyses of observational data of the stratosphere and mesosphere difficult. This includes the possibility that the atmospheric response to solar variability may depend strongly on longitude.     

Global Response of Martian Plasma Environment to an Interplanetary Structure: From Ena and Plasma Observations at Mars

As a part of the global plasma environment study of Mars and its response to the solar wind, we have analyzed a peculiar case of the subsolar energetic neutral atom (ENA) jet observed on June 7, 2004 by the Neutral Particle Detector (NPD) on board the Mars Express satellite. The “subsolar ENA jet” is generated by the interaction between the solar wind and the Martian exosphere, and is one of the most intense sources of ENA flux observed in the vicinity of Mars. On June 7, 2004 (orbit 485 of Mars Express), the NPD observed a very intense subsolar ENA jet, which then abruptly decreased within ∼10 sec followed by quasi-periodic (∼1 min) flux variations. Simultaneously, the plasma sensors detected a solar wind structure, which was most likely an interplanetary shock surface. The abrupt decrease of the ENA flux and the quasi-periodic flux variations can be understood in the framework of the global response of the Martian plasma obstacle to the interplanetary shock. The generation region of the subsolar ENA jet was pushed towards the planet by the interplanetary shock; and therefore, Mars Express went out of the ENA jet region. Associated global vibrations of the Martian plasma obstacle may have been the cause of the quasi-periodic flux variations of the ENA flux at the spacecraft location.     

Satellite measurements and theories of low altitude auroral particle acceleration

Several previous and new S3-3 satellite results on DC electric fields, field-aligned currents, and waves are described, interpreted theoretically, and applied to the understanding of auroral particle acceleration at altitudes below 8000 km. These results include the existence of two spatial scale sizes (less than 0.1 degree and a few degrees invariant latitude) in both the perpendicular and parallel electric fields; the predominance of S-shaped rather than V-shaped equipotential contours on both spatial saales; the correlated presence of field-aligned currents, low frequency wave turbulence, coherent ion cyclotron wave emissions and accelerated upmoving ions and downgoing electrons; intense waves inside electrostatic shocks and important wave-particle interactions therein; correlations of field-aligned currents with magnetospheric boundaries that are determined by convection electric field measurements; electron acceleration producing discrete auroral arcs in the smaller scale fields and producing inverted-V events in the larger scale fields; ion and electron acceleration due to both wave-particle interactions and the parallel electric fields. Further analyses of acceleration mechanisms and energetics are presented.Also Department of Physics.     

Solar Influences on Dynamical Coupling Between the Stratosphere and Troposphere

We use a simplified atmospheric general circulation model (AGCM) to investigate the response of the lower atmosphere to thermal perturbations in the lower stratosphere. The results show that generic heating of the lower stratosphere tends to weaken the sub-tropical jets and the tropospheric mean meridional circulations. The positions of the jets, and the extent of the Hadley cells, respond to the distribution of the stratospheric heating, with low latitude heating displacing them poleward, and uniform heating displacing them equatorward. The patterns of response to the low latitude heating are similar to those found to be associated with solar variability in previous observational data analysis, and to the effects of varying solar UV radiation in sophisticated AGCMs. In order to investigate the chain of causality involved in converting the stratospheric thermal forcing to a tropospheric climate signal we conduct an experiment which uses an ensemble of model spin-ups to analyse the time development of the response to an applied stratospheric perturbation. We find that the initial effect of the change in static stability at the tropopause is to reduce the eddy momentum flux convergence in this region. This is followed by a vertical transfer of the momentum forcing anomaly by an anomalous mean circulation to the surface, where it is partly balanced by surface stress anomalies. The unbalanced part drives the evolution of the vertically integrated zonal flow. We conclude that solar heating of the stratosphere may produce changes in the circulation of the troposphere even without any direct forcing below the tropopause. We suggest that the impact of the stratospheric changes on wave propagation is key to the mechanisms involved.     

Numerical simulation of the solar granulation

The solar granulation has been simulated by numerical solution of the multidimensional, time-dependent, nonlinear Navier-Stokes equations applied to the solar atmosphere. Granules may be explained as buoyantly rising bubbles created at the level where T = 8000 K, and which have collapsed into vortex rings. The calculation is in quantitative agreement with observations and has a number of implications for solar physics and convection theory.     

Macroscopic Transport Large-scale advection, turbulent diffusion, wave transport

While the solar convection zone is very well mixed by its turbulent motions, chemical composition gradients build up in the radiative interior due to microscopic diffusion and settling, and to nuclear burning. Standard models, which ignore any type of macroscopic transport, cannot explain the depletion of lithium in solar-type stars, as they evolve; neither do they account for the observed profile of molecular weight at the base of the solar convection zone. Such macroscopic transport can be achieved through thermally driven meridian currents, through turbulent diffusion generated by differential rotation and possibly through gravity waves. These processes transport also angular momentum, and therefore the internal rotation profile of the Sun provides a crucial test for their relative importance. So does also the behavior of tidally locked binaries, which appear to destroy less lithium than single stars of the same mass. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Inversion of Meteor Rayleigh Waves on Earth and Modeling of Air Coupled Rayleigh Waves on Mars

Meteor impacts and/or meteor events generate body and surface seismic waves on the surface of a planet. When meteoroids burst in the atmosphere, they generate shock waves that subsequently convert into acoustic waves in the atmosphere and seismic waves in the ground. This effect can be modeled as the amplitude of Rayleigh and other Spheroidal modes excitation, due to atmospheric/ground coupling effects.First, an inversion of the seismic source of Chelyabinsk superbolide is performed. We develop an approach in order to model a line source in the atmosphere, corresponding to the consecutive generation of shock waves by the interaction with the atmosphere. The model is based on the known trajectory. We calculate the synthetic seismograms of Rayleigh waves associated with the event by the summation of normal modes of a model of the solid part and the atmosphere of the planet. Through an inversion technique based on singular value decomposition, we perform a full Rayleigh wave inversion and we provide solutions for the moment magnitude.SEIS will likely detect seismic waves generated by impacts and the later might be further located by remote sensing differential processing. In the case of Mars, we use the same method to obtain waveforms associated with impacts on the planetary surface or in low altitudes in the Martian atmosphere. We show that the contribution of the fundamental spheroidal solid mode is dominating the waveforms, compared to that of the first two overtones. We perform an amplitude comparison and we show that small impactors (diameter of 0.5 to 2 m), can be detected by the SEIS VBB seismometer of InSight mission, even in short epicentral distances, in the higher frequencies of the Rayleigh waves. We perform an analysis based on impact rate estimations and we calculate the number of detectable events of 1 meter diameter meteor impacts to be 6.7 to 13.4 per 1 Martian year for a \(Q=500\).     

Retrieval of a wind profile from the Galileo Probe telemetry signal

Ultrastable oscillators onboard the Galileo Probe and Orbiter will permit very accurate determinations of the frequency of the Probe's telemetry signal as the Probe descends from a pressure level of several hundred mb to a level of about 20 bars. Analysis of the time-varying frequency can provide, in principle, a unique and important definition of the vertical profile of the zonal wind speed in the Jovian atmosphere. In this paper, we develop a protocol for retrieving the zonal wind profile from the Doppler shift of the measured frequency; assess the impact of a wide range of error sources on the accuracy of the retrieved wind profile; and perform a number of simulations to illustrate our technique and to assess the likely accuracy of the retrieval.Because of unavoidably large uncertainties in the absolute frequencies of the oscillators, we use time-differenced frequencies in our analysis. Nevertheless, it is possible to recover absolute wind speeds as well as wind shears, since the Orbiter/Probe geometry changes significantly during the Probe relay link. We begin with the full relativistic Doppler shift equation. Through the use of power series expansions and a basis function representation of the wind profiles, we reduce the basic equation to a set of linear equations that can be solved with standard linear least-squares techniques.There are a very large number of instrumental and environmental factors that can introduce errors into the measured signal or to the recovery of zonal winds from the data. We provide estimates of the magnitudes of all these error sources and consider the degree to which they may be reduced by a posteriori information as well as the results of calibration tests. The most important error source is the a posteriori uncertainty in the Probe's entry longitude. The accuracy of the retrieved winds is also limited by errors in the Probe's descent velocity, as obtained from atmospheric parameters measured by several Probe experiments, and in the a posteriori knowledge of secular drifts in the oscillators' frequencies during the relay link, due, for example, to aging and radiation damage.Our simulations indicate that zonal winds may be retrieved from the Doppler data to an accuracy of several m s^-1. Therefore, it may be possible to discriminate among alternative models for the basic drive of the zonal winds, since they differ significantly in the implied zonal wind profile.     

Effects of the interplanetary magnetic field on the auroral oval and plasmapause

Recent research into the effects of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) on the Earth's auroral oval and plasmapause are reviewed. While the IMF sector structure has been known for some time to produce asymmetries in polar-cap convection, recent work has shown these effects to extend into the dayside auroral oval. A restricted region of local times referred to as the convection throat is found to move to either side of the noon meridian in response to changes in the IMF B _y component.The question of the entry of solar-wind plasma into the magnetosphere continues to be a prime area of research. While it is generally felt that magnetic merging must play some significant role, evidence continues to mount that it does not occur at the subsolar magnetopause, as previously supposed, and that other driving forces for antisunward convection must occur on closed field lines. A suggestion is made that many of the seemingly conflicting observations that have been made in the region of the dayside cusps can be explained if significant distortions of closed field lines near the dayside magnetopause are allowed and if closed and open field lines coexist in the cusp, particularly near the entry layer.Effects of the IMF on the nightside auroral oval and on the plasmapause stem chiefly from the expansion of the oval to lower latitudes which is produced by southward IMF components and from the impulsive substorm phenomena that become stronger and more probable with increasingly southward IMF.Proceedings of the Symposium on Solar Terrestrial Physics held in Innsbruck, May–June 1978.     

Alfvén Waves in the Solar Atmosphere

Alfvén waves are considered to be viable transporters of the non-thermal energy required to heat the Sun’s quiescent atmosphere. An abundance of recent observations, from state-of-the-art facilities, have reported the existence of Alfvén waves in a range of chromospheric and coronal structures. Here, we review the progress made in disentangling the characteristics of transverse kink and torsional linear magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves. We outline the simple, yet powerful theory describing their basic properties in (non-)uniform magnetic structures, which closely resemble the building blocks of the real solar atmosphere.     

圆自由射流多尺度涡结构迁移特性的实验研究

在流场背景湍流度比较大或流场中涡结构的尺度范围比较宽的情况下，为了研究湍流场中不同尺度涡结构的迁移速度，用IFA300双通道恒温热线风速计和两个热线探针测量圆自由射流中心线上距离一定的空间两点同一时刻的流向速度分量，用子波分析提取了每一个探针输出的不同尺度的脉动速度信号，计算了两个探针输出的同一尺度脉动速度信号的互相关函数，利用互相关函数达到最大值对应的延迟时间研究了湍流多尺度涡结构的迁移特性。实验结果表明：不同尺度涡结构具有不同的迁移速度，小尺度涡的迁移速度较大，大尺度涡的迁移速度较小。其中，一部分尺度的涡结构是湍流中的主要结构，该尺度涡结构对湍流的贡献也是主要的，其迁移速度与实验测得的湍流平均速度较为接近。     

Theory of fragmented energy release in the Sun

The magnetic energy released inside an active region is closely related to its formation and evolution. Following the evolution of a collection of flux tubes inside the convection zone and above the photosphere we can show that many nonlinear structures (current sheets, shock waves, double layers etc.) are formed. We propose in this review that coronal heating, flares and particle acceleration are due to the interaction of the plasma with these nonlinear structures. Approaching active regions as a driven complex dynamical system we can show that several coherent ensembles of the nonlinear structures will appear spontaneously. The statistical analysis of these structures is a major problem in solar physics. We can also show that many observed large scale structures are the result of the convolution of non-observable fragmentation in the energy release process.