Study of white-light flares observed by Hinode

White-light flares are considered to be the most energetic flaring events that are observable in the optical broad-band continuum of the solar spectrum. They have not been commonly observed. Observations of white-light flares with sub-arcsecond resolution have been very rare. The continuous high resolution observations of Hinode provide a unique opportunity to systematically study the white-light flares with a spatial resolution around 0.2 arcsec. We surveyed all the flares above GOES magnitude C5.0 since the launch of Hinode in 2006 October. 13 of these kinds of flares were covered by the Hinode G-band observations. We analyzed the peak contrasts and equivalent areas (calculated via integrated excess emission contrast) of these flares as a function of the GOES X-ray flux, and found that the cut-off visibility is likely around M1 flares under the observing limit of Hinode. Many other observational and physical factors should affect the visibility of white-light flares; as the observing conditions are improved, smaller flares are likely to have detectable white-light emissions. We are cautious that this limiting visibility is an overestimate, because G-band observations contain emissions from the upper atmosphere.Among the 13 events analyzed, only the M8.7 flare of 2007 June 4 had near-simultaneous observations in both the G-band and the blue continuum. The blue continuum had a peak contrast of 94% vs. 175% in G-band for this event. The equivalent area in the blue continuum is an order of magnitude lower than that in the G-band. Very recently, Jess et al.studied a C2.0 flare with a peak contrast of 300% in the blue continuum. Compared to the events presented in this letter, that event is probably an unusual white-light flare: a very small kernel with a large contrast that can be detected in high resolution observations.     

湘鄂西中生代弧形叠加扩展的变形记录

通过对湘鄂西构造带进行大量的构造形迹测量、解析,结合研究区内构造变形年龄数据的统计分析.明确燕山中期(J3—K1)早期弧形构造弧顶方向为330°,并向两侧发散状分布,以大别山、黔中、黄陵隆起为约束点,湘鄂西形成了由南东侧至北东侧构造迹线由NE→NEE→EW→NWW逐渐偏转的弧形构造,最大主应力方向偏转近114°.同时早...     

全局局部细节感知条件随机场的高分辨率遥感影像建筑物提取

条件随机场模型由于其较强的上下文信息建模能力,被广泛应用于建筑物提取任务中。然而,面对高分辨率遥感影像丰富的地物信息,基于条件随机场的提取方法存在建筑物边界模糊的问题。本文提出了一种全局局部细节感知条件随机场框架,该框架提出全局局部一体化D-LinkNet,在有效利用多尺度建筑物信息的同时保留局部结构信息,解决了传统条件随机场一元势能丢失边界信息的问题。同时,该框架融合分割先验以缓解建筑物类内光谱差异较大的影响,利用更大尺度的上下文信息来精确提取建筑物,并引入局部类别标记代价从而保持细节信息以获取清晰的建筑物边界。实验结果表明,该框架在WHU卫星和航空数据集上的精度评价指标均优于其他对比方法,其IoU分别达89.82%和91.72%,对于复杂场景下的建筑物信息能够获得较好的提取效果。     

单窗算法的大气参数估计方法

根据地表热辐射传导方程,提出了一个简单可行且精度较高的专门用于从TM6数据中演算地表温度的方法——单窗算法.这一算法把大气和地表状态对地表热传导的影响直接包括在演算公式中.该方法需要两个大气参数进行地表温度的演算,即大气平均作用温度和大气透射率.本文论述这两个大气参数的估计方法:根据大气水分含量或地表附近空气湿度来估计大气透射率;通过分析标准大气剖面资料,尤其是大气水分和气温随高程的变化规律,根据地表温度推算大气平均作用温度.     

Suppression of the large‐scale Lorentz force by turbulence

The components of the total stress tensor (Reynolds stress plus Maxwell stress) are computed within the quasilinear approximation for a driven turbulence influenced by a large‐scale magnetic background field. The conducting fluid has an arbitrary magnetic Prandtl number and the turbulence without the background field is assumed as homogeneous and isotropic with a free Strouhal number St. The total large‐scale magnetic tension is always reduced by the turbulence with the possibility of a ‘catastrophic quenching’ for large magnetic Reynolds number Rm so that even its sign is reversed. The total magnetic pressure is enhanced by turbulence in the high‐conductivity limit but it is reduced in the low‐conductivity limit. Also in this case the sign of the total pressure may reverse but only for special turbulences with sufficiently large St > 1. The turbulence‐induced terms of the stress tensor are suppressed by strong magnetic fields. For the tension term this quenching grows with the square of the Hartmann number of the magnetic field. For microscopic (i.e. small) diffusivity values the magnetic tension term becomes thus highly quenched even for field amplitudes much smaller than their equipartition value. In the opposite case of large‐eddy simulations the magnetic quenching is only mild but then also the turbulence‐induced Maxwell tensor components for weak fields remain rather small (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Magnetic field measurements of CP stars from hydrogen line cores

We present the results of measurements of magnetic fields of chemically peculiar (CP) stars, performed from the shifts between the circularly polarized components of metal and hydrogen lines (the Babcock method). The observations are carried out with an analyzer of circular polarization at the 6‐m telescope of the SAO RAS. We found that for the absolute majority of the objects studied (in 22 CP stars out of 23), the magnetic fields, determined from the Zeeman shifts in the hydrogen line cores, are significantly lower than those obtained from metal lines in the same spectra. This disparity varies between the stars. We show that instrumental effects can not produce the above features, and discuss the possible causes of the observed effect. The discovered condition reveals a more complicated structure of magnetic fields of CP stars than a simple dipole, in particular, a reduction of the field strength in the upper atmosphere with the vertical gradient, significantly higher than the dipole (© 2011 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Synchrotron emission model of RX J1856.5-3754

A plasma emission model is presented interpreting the observational properties of RX J1856.5-3754. In particular, on the basis of the Vlasov’s kinetic equation we study the process of the quasi-linear diffusion (QLD) developed by means of the cyclotron instability. This mechanism provides simultaneous generation of optical and X-ray emission on the light cylinder scales, in one location of the pulsar magnetosphere. It is assumed that the observed X-ray spectrum of this source is generated via the synchrotron mechanism. A different approach of the synchrotron theory is considered, giving a spectral energy distribution that is in a good agreement with the observational data.     

The GREGOR polarimetric calibration unit

The new Solar telescope GREGOR is designed to observe small‐scale dynamic magnetic structures below a size of 70 km on the Sun with high spectral resolution and polarimetric accuracy. For this purpose, the polarimetric concept of GREGOR is based on a combination of post‐focus polarimeters with pre‐focus equipment for high precision calibration. The Leibniz‐Institute for Astrophysics Potsdam developed the GREGOR calibration unit which is an integral part of the telescope. We give an overview of the function and design of the calibration unit and present the results of extensive testing series done in the Solar Observatory “Einsteinturm” and at GREGOR (© 2012 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)     

Simulation of river flow in Britain under climate change: Baseline performance and future seasonal changes

Climate change is likely to manifest in river flow changes across the globe, which could have wide-ranging consequences for society and the natural environment. A number of previous studies used the UK Climate Projections 2009 (UKCP09) to investigate the potential impacts on river flows in Britain, but these projections were recently updated by the release of UKCP18, thus there is a need to update flow studies. Here, the UKCP18 Regional (12 km) projections are applied using a national-scale grid-based hydrological model, to investigate potential future changes in seasonal mean river flows across Great Britain. Analysis of hydrological model performance using baseline climate model data (1980–2010) shows relatively good agreement with use of observation-based data, particularly after application of a monthly precipitation bias-correction. Analysis of seasonal mean flow changes for two future time-slices (2020–2050 and 2050–2080) suggests large decreases in summer flows across the country (median −45% by 2050–2080), but possible increases in winter flows (median 9% by 2050–2080), especially in the north and west. Information on the potential range of flow changes using the latest projections is necessary to develop appropriate adaptation strategies, and comparisons with previous projections can help update existing plans, although such comparisons are often not straightforward.