Studies Using a Newly Digitized Archive of Global Solar Magnetic Field Patterns
Abstract
In 1964 (Solar Cycle 20) Patrick McIntosh began creating hand-drawn synoptic maps of solar activity, based on Hα imaging measurements. These synoptic maps were unique in that they traced the polarity inversion lines (PILs), connecting widely separated filaments, fibril patterns and plage corridors to reveal the large-scale organization of the solar magnetic field. Coronal hole (CH) boundaries were later added to the maps which were produced, more or less continuously, into 2009 (start of SC 24), yielding more than 40 years ( 540 Carrington rotations) or nearly four complete solar cycles of synoptic maps. Under an NSF grant, these maps are being scanned, digitized and archived and the final, searchable versions are now publicly available at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) at: http://www.ngdc.noaa.gov/stp/space-weather/solar-data/solar-imagery/composites/synoptic-maps/mc-intosh/). We will outline the project and the current status of the archive, and present some preliminary results demonstrating scientific applications. For example, computer codes permit efficient searches of the map arrays. The maps for SC 23 have been completed and we will show examples of the global evolution of features including filaments, large-scale positive and negative polarity regions, CHs of each polarity, CH boundaries, PILs, major sunspots, and plage areas.
- Publication:
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SDO 2016: Unraveling the Sun's Complexity
- Pub Date:
- October 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016usc..confE..40W
- Keywords:
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- SDO;
- SDO 2016;
- Solar Dynamic Observatory;
- SDO-2016;
- SDO Workshop;
- SDO 2016: Unraveling the Sun's Complexity