基于SIFT特征检测和密度峰值聚类的太阳活动区自动检测算法研究

太阳活动区是太阳大气中产生各种活动现象的区域,精确地检测和识别太阳活动区对理解太阳磁场的形成机制具有极为重要的科学意义.根据太阳活动区结构较为复杂的特点,基于尺度不变特征变换(ScaleInvariant Feature Transform, SIFT)和密度峰值聚类(Clustering by Fast Search and Find of Density Peaks,DPC)算法的优越性,提出了一种太阳活动区的自动检测和识别方法.首先,对太阳动力学天文台(Solar Dynamics Observatory, SDO)日震和磁场成像仪(Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager, HMI)的纵向磁图进行对比度增强;然后采用SIFT方法提取出全日面磁图中的特征点;最后利用DPC算法将特征点进行聚类,从而自动检测和识别出太阳活动区.研究结果表明, SIFT和DPC算法相结合的方法可以在不需要人工交互的情况下准确地自动检测出太阳活动区.     

Solar Activity and Classical Physics

1 INTRODUCTION The Sun is close enough to observe in some detail, and it shows that a star is more than the traditional stable self-gravitating thermonuclear body established half a celltury ago. For the fact is that out of sight beneath the visible surface the outward flow of heat from the thermonuclear core drives hydrodynamics that generates magnetic fields. It is the complicated dynamics of those magnetic fields that produces the modern mysteries of the active Sun. The…     

Solar Total Irradiance: A Reference Value for Solar Minimum

Simultaneous solar total irradiance observations performed by absolute radiometers on board satellites during the quiet-Sun period between solar cycles 21 and 22 (1985–1987), are analyzed to determine the solar total irradiance at 1 AU for the solar minimum. During the quiet-Sun period the total solar irradiance, UV irradiance, and the various solar activity indices show very little fluctuation. However, the absolute value of the solar total irradiance derived from the observations differ within the accuracy of the radiometers used in the measurements. Therefore, the question often arises about a reference value of the solar total irradiance for use in climate models and for computation of geophysical, and atmospheric parameters. This research is conducted as a part of the Solar Electromagnetic Radiation Study for Solar Cycle 22 (SOLERS22). On the basis of the study we recommended a reference value of 1367.0 ± 0.04 W m^-2 for the solar total irradiance at 1 AU for a truly quiet Sun. We also find that the total solar irradiance data for the quiet-Sun period reveals strong short-term irradiance variations.     

MINVIT: Multi Instrumental Visualization Tool for Solar Physics

In recent years much effort has been devoted to constructing systems for sharing resources within the solar physics community. Several advanced archives and data analysis systems do exist, but there is low availability of data visualization tools for displaying simultaneous multi instruments/wavelengths solar data. Meanwhile map server technology has received great attention by the IT researcher and geophysical community. In this paper we discuss a possible use of an open source environment for building spatially enabled Internet applications for the visualization and analysis of solar physics data sets. We present the preliminary status of the MINVIT (Multi Instrumental Visualization Tool) project, which shall be able to merge images and information produced by different instruments in a single/synoptic image available on-line. Moreover, the tool is designed in order to allow the visualization of the temporal evolution of data. We further discuss the possible integration into the grid framework, focusing on a middleware able to query EGSO resources such us UOC and SEC in order to include data from several space and ground-based solar observatories.     

Group Sunspot Numbers: A New Solar Activity Reconstruction

In this paper, we construct a time series known as the Group Sunspot Number. The Group Sunspot Number is designed to be more internally self-consistent (i.e., less dependent upon seeing the tiniest spots) and less noisy than the Wolf Sunspot Number. It uses the number of sunspot groups observed, rather than groups and individual sunspots. Daily, monthly, and yearly means are derived from 1610 to the present. The Group Sunspot Numbers use 65941 observations from 117 observers active before 1874 that were not used by Wolf in constructing his time series. Hence, we have calculated daily values of solar activity on 111358 days for 1610–1995, compared to 66168 days for the Wolf Sunspot Numbers. The Group Sunspot Numbers also have estimates of their random and systematic errors tabulated. The generation and preliminary analysis of the Group Sunspot Numbers allow us to make several conclusions: (1) Solar activity before 1882 is lower than generally assumed and consequently solar activity in the last few decades is higher than it has been for several centuries. (2) There was a solar activity peak in 1801 and not 1805 so there is no long anomalous cycle of 17 years as reported in the Wolf Sunspot Numbers. The longest cycle now lasts no more than 15 years. (3) The Wolf Sunspot Numbers have many inhomogeneities in them arising from observer noise and this noise affects the daily, monthly, and yearly means. The Group Sunspot Numbers also have observer noise, but it is considerably less than the noise in the Wolf Sunspot Numbers. The Group Sunspot Number is designed to be similar to the Wolf Sunspot Number, but, even if both indices had perfect inputs, some differences are expected, primarily in the daily values.     

Group Sunspot Numbers: A New Solar Activity Reconstruction

In this paper, we construct a time series known as the Group Sunspot Number. The Group Sunspot Number is designed to be more internally self-consistent (i.e., less dependent upon seeing the tiniest spots) and less noisy than the Wolf Sunspot Number. It uses the number of sunspot groups observed, rather than groups and individual sunspots. Daily, monthly, and yearly means are derived from 1610 to the present. The Group Sunspot Numbers use 65941 observations from 117 observers active before 1874 that were not used by Wolf in constructing his time series. Hence, we have calculated daily values of solar activity on 111358 days for 1610–1995, compared to 66168 days for the Wolf Sunspot Numbers. The Group Sunspot Numbers also have estimates of their random and systematic errors tabulated. The generation and preliminary analysis of the Group Sunspot Numbers allow us to make several conclusions: (1) Solar activity before 1882 is lower than generally assumed and consequently solar activity in the last few decades is higher than it has been for several centuries. (2) There was a solar activity peak in 1801 and not 1805 so there is no long anomalous cycle of 17 years as reported in the Wolf Sunspot Numbers. The longest cycle now lasts no more than 15 years. (3) The Wolf Sunspot Numbers have many inhomogeneities in them arising from observer noise and this noise affects the daily, monthly, and yearly means. The Group Sunspot Numbers also have observer noise, but it is considerably less than the noise in the Wolf Sunspot Numbers. The Group Sunspot Number is designed to be similar to the Wolf Sunspot Number, but, even if both indices had perfect inputs, some differences are expected, primarily in the daily values.     

Long-Term Solar Activity: Direct and Indirect Study

The series of directly observed sunspot numbers is nearly 400 years long. We stress that the recently compiled group sunspot number series is an upgrade of the old Wolf series and should always be used before 1850. The behavior of solar activity on longer time scales can be studied only using indirect proxies. Such proxies as aurorae occurrence or naked-eye sunspot observations are qualitative indicators of solar activity but can be hardly quantitatively interpreted. Cosmogenic isotope records provide a basis for quantitative estimate of the past solar activity. Here we overview the main methods of the long-term solar activity reconstruction on the centennial to multimillennia time scale. We discuss that regression-based reconstructions of solar activity lead to very uncertain results, while recently developed physics-based models raise solar activity reconstruction to a new level and allow studying its behavior on a multimillennia time scale. In particular, the reconstructions show that the recent episode of high solar activity is quite unusual in the multimillennia time scale.     

CMOS-APS Detectors for Solar Physics: Lessons Learned during the SWAP Preflight Calibration

CMOS-APS imaging detectors open new opportunities for remote sensing in solar physics beyond what classical CCDs can provide, offering far less power consumption, simpler electronics, better radiation hardness, and the possibility of avoiding a mechanical shutter. The SWAP telescope onboard the PROBA2 technology demonstration satellite of the European Space Agency will be the first actual implementation of a CMOS-APS detector for solar physics in orbit. One of the goals of the SWAP project is precisely to acquire experience with the CMOS-APS technology in a real-live space science context. Such a precursor mission is essential in the preparation of missions such as Solar Orbiter where the extra CMOS-APS functionalities will be hard requirements. The current paper concentrates on specific CMOS-APS issues that were identified during the SWAP preflight calibration measurements. We will discuss the different readout possibilities that the CMOS-APS detector of SWAP provides and their associated pros and cons. In particular we describe the “image lag” effect, which results in a contamination of each image with a remnant of the previous image. We have characterised this effect for the specific SWAP implementation and we conclude with a strategy on how to successfully circumvent the problem and actually take benefit of it for solar monitoring.