Magnetic changes observed in the formation of two filaments in a complex active region: TRACE and MSDP observations

This paper is focused on the formation of two filaments in a complex center of decaying active regions (AR 8329 and AR 8326), located in the northern hemisphere. The observations were obtained in Hα by the Multi-channel Subtractive Double Pass spectrograph (MSDP mounted on the German telescope VTT in Tenerife) and EUV lines with TRACE (Transition Region And Corona Explorer). High Doppler shifts are found to be related to the ends of filament segments where canceling magnetic fields are also located (as seen on magnetograms from Big Bear Solar Observatory). At these locations, velocities along the line of sight, derived by using a cloud model method reach −20 km s⁻¹, the segments of filaments merge and frequently a time-related sub-flare is observed by TRACE. The chirality of the filament segments has been determined by different methods: the segments of dextral chirality join together and form a long dextral filament, and a single filament of sinistral chirality forms end to end with the dextral filament but does not merge with it. Assuming a model of twisted flux tube for filament material, we suggest that the dextral filament has negative helicity and a relationship between its formation and the close by sunspot with the same sign of helicity.     

Magnetic changes observed in the formation of two filaments in a complex active region: TRACE and MSDP observations

This paper is focused on the formation of two filaments in a complex center of decaying active regions (AR 8329 and AR 8326), located in the northern hemisphere. The observations were obtained in Hα by the Multi-channel Subtractive Double Pass spectrograph (MSDP mounted on the German telescope VTT in Tenerife) and EUV lines with TRACE (Transition Region And Corona Explorer). High Doppler shifts are found to be related to the ends of filament segments where canceling magnetic fields are also located (as seen on magnetograms from Big Bear Solar Observatory). At these locations, velocities along the line of sight, derived by using a cloud model method reach −20 km s⁻¹, the segments of filaments merge and frequently a time-related sub-flare is observed by TRACE. The chirality of the filament segments has been determined by different methods: the segments of dextral chirality join together and form a long dextral filament, and a single filament of sinistral chirality forms end to end with the dextral filament but does not merge with it. Assuming a model of twisted flux tube for filament material, we suggest that the dextral filament has negative helicity and a relationship between its formation and the close by sunspot with the same sign of helicity.     

Evaluation of atmospheric thermal radiation algorithms for daylight hours

Existing simple but theoretically based clear-sky models for longwave down-welling radiation (LDR_c) and cloud impact algorithms transforming them to all-sky radiation (LDR) are checked against locally calibrated empirical algorithms. They are evaluated for daylight hours based on measurements in regionally differing climates of Germany. The Prata clear-sky scheme is additionally tested with adjusted coefficients so that LDR_c converges against a realistic emissivity for a completely dry atmosphere. This version is characterised by an improved modelled variance. Compared with locally calibrated schemes, bias and root mean square error (RMSE) of the more theoretical clear-sky schemes do not differ significantly and yield even better results at a mountain site. In contrast, the locally calibrated algorithms yield biases up to 9% and an increase in RMSE between 6% and 67%, if applied for other sites. For daylight hours, the cloud impact on LDR can be calculated via the ratio of observed to clear-sky global irradiation (CMF_sol). With CMF_sol, the Crawford and Duchon scheme reveals the lowest bias and a decrease in RMSE by 22% against the next best performing algorithms. Compared with synoptic cloud observations as input, the bias is reduced by 9 to 28 W m^?2 and the scattering of the residuals decreases by 20% to 30%. Based on published results for also non-European sites, it is inferred that the more theoretically based LDR_c schemes and cloud impact evaluated via CMF_sol are universally applicable and perform at least in the order of magnitude of locally calibrated empirical algorithms.     

X-ray bright point flares due to magnetic reconnection

Ground-based optical observations coordinated with Yohkoh/SXT X-ray observations of an old, disintegrating bipolar active region AR NOAA 7493 (May 1, 1993) provided a multiwavelength data base to study a flaring active region X-ray bright point (XBP) of about 16 hr lifetime, and the activity related to it in different layers of the solar atmosphere. The XBP appeared to be related to a new minor bipole of about 10²⁰ Mx. Superposed on a global evolution of soft X-ray brightness, the XBP displayed changes of brightness, lasting for 1–10 min. During the brightenings the XBP apparently had a spatial structure, which was (tiny) loop-like rather than point-like. The X-ray brightenings were correlated with chromospheric activity: (i) brightenings of underlying chromospheric faculae, and (ii) appearance of strong turbulent velocities in the arch filament system. We propose that the XBP brightenings were due to reconnection of the magnetic field lines (sketched in 3D) between the new bipole and a pre-existing plage field induced by the motion of one of the new pores (v = 0.2 km s^–1) towards the plage, and that the XBP itself was a reconnected hot loop between them.     

PALAEOMAGNETIC AND STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATIONS ON BLOCK ROTATIONS AND CRUSTAL SHORTENING IN CENTRAL TIBET

PALAEOMAGNETIC AND STRUCTURAL INVESTIGATIONS ON BLOCK ROTATIONS AND CRUSTAL SHORTENING IN CENTRAL TIBET1　RatschbacherL ,SpernerB ,MeschedeM ,etal.Computertechniquesandapplications:aprogramlibraryforquantitativestructuralanalysis[J].TuebingerGeowissArb ,1994,A (2 1) :73S .…     

Dynamics of the solar granulation – On the Time Variation of the Granular Flow

The emergence and evolution of large granules shows thegranular dynamics particularly well. We therefore investigate the time dependence of the convective flows within a regular and an exploding granule. The observational material for this study was taken at the center of the solar disk with the German VTT in Izaña (Tenerife, Spain) during an observing campaign in the year 1994. It consists of series of spectrograms of high spatial resolution, which were digitized and processed with wavelet techniques. Among other features, our data show the dynamical portrait of a regular and an exploding granule. We can follow their temporal evolution over more than 12 min. Using absorption lines of different strength we are able to see the dynamical change of both granules at several heights within the first 200 km above ₅₀₀₀=1. The observations reveal significant changes of the convective flow of both granules over time as well as over height, which are discussed in detail.