A SEARCH FOR VECTOR MAGNETIC FIELD VARIATIONS ASSOCIATED WITH THE M-CLASS FLARES OF 10 JUNE 1991 IN AR 6659

A careful analysis of a 6-hour time sequence of vector magnetograms of AR 6659, observed on 10 June 1991 with the MSFC vector magnetograph, has revealed only minor changes in the vector magnetic field azimuths in the vicinity of two M-class flares, and the association of these changes with the flares is not unambiguous. In this paper we present our analysis of the data which includes comparison of vector magnetograms prior to and during the flares, calculation of distributions of the r.m.s. variation of the azimuth at each pixel in the field of view of the active region, and examination of the variation with time of the azimuths along the flaring neutral lines and at every pixel covered by the main flare emissions as observed with the H telescope coaligned with the vector magnetograph.     

Structure and Evolution of the Transition Region Network Observed in he ii λ304

The length scale and life time of the transition region network cells were studied using Heii 304 filtergrams. The temporal structure function was calculated from spatially aligned Heii 304 images. The estimated life time of the network cell was about 27 hr. We compared this life time with the life time of photospheric magnetic network and of the extrapolated magnetic network. The spatial structure function was calculated from the Heii 304 filtergrams. The calculated spatial structure function saturates at 25000 km. The transition region network elements are bigger in size than the photospheric magnetic network element. The magnetic network element equals the size of the Heii 304 network element when the photospheric magnetic field is extrapolated to a height of 3000 km above the photosphere where the magnetic fluxes are deployed. The derived value of the diffusion speed of the network elements was 0.098 km s^–1.     

Geology and geomorphology of Cumbum valley and Varushanadu hills,Madural district,Tamil Nadu through remote sensing

The Varushanad hills forms the eastern offshoot of the Western Ghats and the Cumbum valley divides the Varushnad hills from the Western Ghats. Investigations were carried out in about 1700 sq Km comprising the Cumbum valley and the Varushanad hills of the Western Ghats situated in Periakulam Srivalliputhur and Usilampatti taluks of Tamil Nadu on the geological and geomorphological aspects. Remote sensing techniques were used and limited field checks were made. Visual interpretation of aerial photographs on 1:60,000 scale was carried out for identifying the geomorphological features, drainage pattern and lithology. Digital analysis of the Landsat computer compatible tape (CCT) path-row 154–053 was also carried out to delineate major lithological variations. Major lineaments were also mapped from the Landsat imagery and false colour composite. The rock types of the Cumbum valley and the Varushanad hills are mainly charnockites, granite gneiss and pink granites which have been deformed by folds and faults. The various geomorphological units of the area are ridges, valleys, bazada zone and pediment zone of mountain complex. Resources evalution studies on the potential zone of ground water and possible construction materials were also discussed.     

Results from the Indo-USSR ozonesonde intercomparison experiment

A total of seventeen vertical profiles of ozone were obtained during an Indo-USSR collaborative experiment on ozonesonde intercomparison conducted at Thumba during March 1983. The vertical distribution of ozone was measured using rocket-borne, balloon-borne as well as ground-based instruments. Four different rocket ozonesondes from India and USSR and the balloon ozonesonde were used to makein situ observations of ozone concentrations in addition to the Dobson spectrophotometric observations of total ozone and Umkehr. The rocket and the balloon launchings were effected in three salvos and measurements were made at different times of the day as well as during night. The results of all these measurements are used to obtain a mean ozone vertical distribution over Thumba foT the spring equinoxial period. The mean profile shows the maximum ozone concentration at 27 km with a value of (3.86±0-52)×10¹² molecules per cc. Comparison of this mean profile with available satellite data for the equatorial regions shows that, in general, the Thumba values are lower by 10–15% at altitudes below 40 km and larger at altitudes above 50 km compared to the satellite results. The data also show evidence for a day-to-day variability and a possible day-to-night variability in the ozone vertical distribution with the night-time values higher than the daytime values at all altitudes above 35 km and the difference is found to increase with the increasing altitude.     

First Observations from the Multi-Application Solar Telescope (MAST) Narrow-Band Imager

The Multi-Application Solar Telescope is a 50 cm off-axis Gregorian telescope recently installed at the Udaipur Solar Observatory, India. In order to obtain near-simultaneous observations at photospheric and chromospheric heights, an imager optimized for two or more wavelengths is being integrated with the telescope. Two voltage-tuneable lithium-niobate Fabry–Perot etalons along with a set of interference blocking filters have been used for developing the imager. Both of the etalons are used in tandem for photospheric observations in Fe i 6173 Å and chromospheric observation in H\(\alpha\) 6563 Å spectral lines, whereas only one of the etalons is used for the chromospheric Ca II line at 8542 Å. The imager is also being used for spectropolarimetric observations. We discuss the characterization of the etalons at the above wavelengths, detail the integration of the imager with the telescope, and present a few sets of observations taken with the imager set-up.     

Correlation between magnetic shear and magnetic tension in a solar active region

The difference between the magnetic tension and magnetic shear was calculated for four vector magnetograms of NOAA AR 4474. It was seen that this difference between the two independent angular measures of magnetic stress is less than 18° for more than 50% of the pixels. Magnetic tension is thus found to be fairly well correlated with magnetic shear for AR 4474.     

Design of Instrument Control Software for Solar Vector Magnetograph at Udaipur Solar Observatory

A magnetograph is an instrument which makes measurement of solar magnetic field by measuring Zeeman induced polarization in solar spectral lines. In a typical filter based magnetograph there are three main modules namely, polarimeter, narrow-band spectrometer (filter), and imager(CCD camera). For a successful operation of magnetograph it is essential that these modules work in synchronization with each other. Here, we describe the design of instrument control system implemented for the Solar Vector Magnetograph under development at Udaipur Solar Observatory. The control software is written in Visual Basic and exploits the Component Object Model (COM) components for a fast and flexible application development. The user can interact with the instrument modules through a Graphical User Interface (GUI) and can program the sequence of magnetograph operations. The integration of Interactive Data Language (IDL) ActiveX components in the interface provides a powerful tool for online visualization, analysis and processing of images.     

A study of the relation between intensity oscillations and magnetic field parameters in a sunspot: Hinode observations

We present properties of intensity oscillations of a sunspot in the photosphere and chromosphere using G band and Ca II H filtergrams from Hinode. Intensity power maps as function of magnetic field strength and frequency reveal reduction of power in the G band with an increase in photospheric magnetic field strength at all frequencies. In Ca II H, however, stronger fields exhibit more power at high frequencies, particularly in the 4.5–8.0 mHz band. Power distributions in different locations of the active region show that the oscillations in Ca II H exhibit more power compared to that of the G band. We also relate the power in intensity oscillations with different components of the photospheric vector magnetic field using near simultaneous spectro-polarimetric observations of the sunspot from the Hinode spectropolarimeter. The photospheric umbral power is strongly anti-correlated with the magnetic field strength and its line-of-sight component but there is a good correlation with the transverse component. A reversal of this trend is observed in the chromosphere except at low frequencies(ν≤ 1.5 mHz). The power in sunspot penumbrae is anti-correlated with the magnetic field parameters at all frequencies(1.0 ≤ν≤ 8.0 mHz) in both the photosphere and chromosphere, except that the chromospheric power shows a strong correlation in the frequency range 3–3.5 mHz.     

Influence of solar wind variability on the recurrence of droughts

The observed effects of solar flares and interplanetary sector crossings seem to indicate that particle precipitation in the Earth's upper atmosphere decreases cyclonic activity in the troposphere. As an extrapolation to longer term effects, it is suggested that the recurrence of prolonged periods of enhanced solar wind particle precipitation in the upper atmosphere during alternate solar minima could cause the recurrence of extreme droughts.