Page 1 PROGRESS REPORT THE SOLAR-A SOFT X-RAY TELESCOPE (SXT) PROGRAM (CONTRACT NAS8-00119) (for May 2001) OVERVIEW The YOHKOH Mission is a program of the Japanese Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS) with collaboration by the U. S. National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the U. K. Science and Engineering Research Council. The YOHKOH satellite was launched on 30 August 1991 from Kagoshima Space Center (KSC) in Japan. The purpose of this mission is to study high energy phenomena in solar flares and the Sun's corona. Under an international cooperative agreement, Lockheed Martin, under NASA contract, is providing a scientific investigation using the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT), one of the primary experiments of the mission. The SXT was developed at the Lockheed Martin Solar and Astrophysics Laboratory in cooperation with the National Astronomical Observatory of Japan, and the Institute for Astronomy of the University of Tokyo. MAJOR PROGRAMMATIC ACTIVITIES IN THE MONTH The program continues to operate without any issues. The SXT team submitted a proposal for the upcoming Senior Review and preparations are underway for the presentation to the Senior Review committee. SOLAR ACTIVITY The month of May began with moderate solar activity as four M-class flares were observed during the first week. The most notable probably will be the sigmoid-induced eruptive flare on 5-May 08:56. The most active AR on the disk during mid-may was AR9455 and it produced three M1 class flares. SXT underwent 3 runs of flare mode, which included the M1.2 event in AR 9455 on the 17th. The data coverage for this event is good. SXT full-disk images recorded a spectacular eruption on the northeast limb on 15 May (18:20 UT), and, half an hour later, a CME with the classic three-part structure was seen by the LASCO C2 telescope. In addition, cusp-shaped loops persisted in the northern hemisphere, and the adjacent corona was restructured a couple of times, clearly involving the backside. Activity declined at the end of May with only one M-class flare and a few C-class flares. Page 2 CAMPAIGNS At last, a sigmoid alert was called. The eruptive M-class flare on May 5, described above, was observed during this campaign. We participated in MEDOC campaign #7, which involved a few SOHO JOPs. The first week was spent on filaments to study their dynamics, and the second week was to observe flares with a specific objective to study helium abundance. The Sun was not not necessarily cooperative, however. SCIENCE Acton gave two James T. Bunyan Lectures at Stanford. The public lecture, "The Magnetic Personality of the Universe" was well attended. The second to the Stanford Astrophysics Group was entitled, "Solar cycle dependence of coronal activity as observed by the Soft X-ray Telescope on YOHKOH" and generated some interesting discussion. Aschwanden worked on a numerical study with Karel Schrijver to model the global DEM from a (solar-like) stellar atmosphere with uniform and non-uniform footpoint heating. Footpoint heating within 20 Mm is more consistent with the observed DEM from cool stars than uniform heating, and provides a surprisingly strong constraint for eliminating most of the existing coronal heating models. Hudson worked on the remarkable April 18 flare. This unique example of a moving hard X-ray source points to the presence in expanding coronal loops of large populations of high-energy electrons. These would have been noticed as U-bursts prior to the hard X-ray imaging. If this interpretation is correct, the non-thermal electrons may have a major energetic role in these loop expansions, which could be similar to what we observe in soft X-rays (and termed "plasmoids" by some). Nitta looked for eruptive signatures in SXT/TRACE data that might correspond to the 1-2 Rsun origin of CMEs. For the Bastille Day 2000 flare, he identified (in the TRACE 1600 A movie) the westward eruption of a filament (before 10:10) with the CME front, and the subsequent eruption of a bigger filament (10:15) with the CME core. SXT started only around 10:20, and ejecta (eastward) seen in SXT images were more like flare sprays. At the AGU meeting in Boston, representatives of the SXT team met with team members from TRACE and HESSI to plan joint flare observations since the launch of HESSI is (we hope) imminent. It was decided that SXT will initially operate with a new flare table and will observe in only two filters for rapid cadence. The filters chosen are AlMg to reveal plasma that HESSI cannot see see, and Be to provide a temperature overlap with HESSI. Page 3 PUBLICATIONS Submitted: "Nulls in the coronal magnetic field", by Dana Longcope and Petrus Martens, "High-Resolution Solar Magnetography from Space: Beyond Solar-B", Huntsville, AL, 3-5 April 2001. Schrijver,C.J. and Aschwanden,M.J. 2001, ApJ, subm, "Constraining the properties of non-radiative heating of the coronae of cool stars and the Sun". Two papers have been submitted for the proceedings (ESA-SP) of the "First Solar Orbiter Workshop", held in Tenerife, May 14-18: 1. "Science Objectives of the EUV Spectral Imager for Solar Orbiter", by Petrus C. Martens and Charles C. Kankelborg, and 2, "Simultaneous EUV Imaging and Spectroscopy", by Charles C. Kankelborg, Petrus C. Martens and Roger J. Thomas. Yan,Y., Aschwanden,M.J., Wang,S.J, and Deng,Y.Y. 2001 SP (subm, May 2001) "Evolution of Mangetic Flux Rope in NOAA 9077 Active Region on 14 July 2000". "The Magnetic Structure and Generation of EUV Flare Ribbons," L. Fletcher and H. S. Hudson (Solar Physics) "Hard X-ray Two-Ribbon Flare Observed with Yohkoh/HXT," S. Masuda, T. Kosugi, and H. S. Hudson (Solar Physics). Accepted: "Model update for mesospheric/thermospheric nitric oxide", P.K. Swaminathan, D.F. Strobel, L. Acton, and L. J. Paxton, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Part C, Vol 26/7, pp 535-539, scheduled publication date Jun 2001 Aschwanden,M.J., Poland,A.I., and Rabin,D. 2001 Ann.Rev.Astron.Astrophys. 39, 175-210. URL="http://www.lmsal.com/pub/araa/araa.html" "The New Solar Corona". "Chromospheric Damping of Alfven Waves", by B. De Pontieu, P.C.H. Martens, and H.S. Hudson (ApJ). Origin and Evolution of Filament-Prominence Systems", by P.C.H. Martens and C. Zwaan, ApJ, September. "A Transitory Corotating Stream, a Short-Lived Coronal Hole, and Related Magnetic Fields", L. F. Burlaga, K. L. Harvey, N. R. Sheeley, Jr., J. Geophys. Res. (2001). Published: Page 4 "The Physical Nature of the Loop-Top X-Ray Sources in the Gradual Phase of Solar Flares", Nitta, N. V., Sato, J., and Hudson, H. S., 2001 ApJ, 552, 821. "Onset of the Magnetic Explosion in Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections," R. L. Moore, A. C. Sterling, H. S. Hudson, and J. R. Lemen, ApJ 552, 833 (2001). PUBLIC USE OF SXT IMAGES We are continuing to make Yohkoh/SXT images available for a variety of uses. Efforts continue to make selected images available on the LMSAL SXT WWW homepage (http://www.lmsal.com/SXT/). We receive requests for the Yohkoh posters (#2 and #3) by way of the form on the SXT homepage. Currently we receive requests via our homepage at the rate of 2 or 3 per day. The WEB access statistics in May were 120666 accesses and 7,047 Mbytes transferred for the SXT website and 277850 accesses and 13,286 Mbytes transferred for the YPOP website. YOHKOH OPERATIONS AND HEALTH Yohkoh and the SXT continue to function very well. SXT experienced a normal level of Single Event Upset (SEU) events during the month: SXT Bit Map Error 11-May-01 Pass 4: 010511-1443 Recovered in the same pass. SXT Bit Map Error 22-May-01 Pass 1: 010522-0723 Recovered in the same pass. SXT Bit Map Error 23-May-01 Pass 1: 010523-0723 Recovered in the same pass. SXT Bit Map Error 31-May-01 Pass 2: 010531-0516 Recovered in the same pass. Page 5 DATA FLOW Month Full Frame Images Observing Region Images Received Lost Received Lost Loss % QT FL Tot Thru Mar-99 608739 224013 2445908 598157 3044065 1088310 26.15 Apr-99 6715 1371 25113 4179 29292 7791 21.01 May-99 6459 1807 35467 12092 47559 13757 22.44 Jun-99 6217 1915 23542 13051 36593 10086 21.61 Jul-99 5591 1745 20409 25747 46156 9670 17.32 Aug-99 6827 2503 21725 23361 45086 11844 20.80 Sep-99 5768 2011 21890 3434 25324 10846 29.99 Oct-99 5768 2308 22994 10487 33481 11517 25.59 Nov-99 7552 3425 20754 18772 39526 11974 23.25 Dec-99 7488 2791 22047 5354 27401 10663 28.01 Jan-00 5426 1736 19802 4040 23842 8958 27.31 Feb-00 6533 2052 21801 7017 28818 8982 23.76 Mar-00 6447 2007 22692 21914 44606 11192 20.06 Apr-00 6412 2100 31195 7214 38409 13438 25.92 May-00 6995 1556 28175 14961 43136 8967 17.21 Jun-00 7043 1722 24413 16369 40782 8690 17.57 Jul-00 6674 1920 23505 31739 55244 10235 15.63 Aug-00 9623 1996 20925 1197 22122 6577 22.92 Sep-00 8835 2240 22233 5764 27997 8307 22.88 Oct-00 6348 1524 23309 6629 29938 7916 20.91 Nov-00 6525 1639 20087 10318 30405 6972 18.65 Dec-00 6585 1918 20718 5422 26140 8071 23.59 Jan-01 5610 1231 20469 3161 23630 7317 23.64 Feb-01 6917 1497 25366 1144 26510 7871 22.89 Mar-01 6851 1272 26315 17139 43454 9470 17.89 Apr-01 5086 1720 14919 19785 34704 8931 20.47 Total 775034 272019 3025773 888447 3914220 1328352 25.34 Number of Full Frame Images Received: 775034 Number of Observing Region Images Received: 3914220 Total: 4689254 Approximate Number of Shutter Moves/CCD Readouts: 7977380 NOTES: * The loss of images is mainly due to BDR overwrites, but there are also occasional DSN dumps which are lost. * It is common to have observing regions which contain more than 64 lines, which requires multiple exposures to make a single observing region image. This is why the number of shutter moves is larger than the number of images received plus those lost. Page 6 ENGINEERING SUMMARY TABLE Month Avg Dark Level # of Dark Spikes CCD Warmings Front Optical (DN) (e/sec) Over 48 Over 64 High / # Support Trans Temp /Days Temp (%) Apr-99 58.82 1061.4 225973 38963 23.8 / 1 21.4 N/A May-99 58.68 1056.4 225385 37726 21.6 N/A Jun-99 59.40 1083.0 230091 42440 22.0 N/A Jul-99 59.78 1097.5 231236 46337 23.8 / 1 20.6 N/A Aug-99 59.39 1083.0 229319 43067 21.7 N/A Sep-99 60.04 1107.3 231585 49084 21.8 N/A Oct-99 59.66 1092.9 229735 45263 22.8 N/A Nov-99 59.90 1102.0 231288 47102 23.0 N/A Dec-99 60.55 1126.3 233523 53920 22.5 / 2 25.3 N/A Jan-00 60.27 1115.9 233820 50214 23.4 N/A Feb-00 60.93 1140.6 235079 56836 23.8 N/A Mar-00 60.72 1132.8 234174 54661 22.9 N/A Apr-00 61.10 1147.0 235252 58348 22.2 N/A May-00 61.00 1143.1 234569 57445 21.2 N/A Jun-00 61.19 1150.3 235622 58946 22.8 N/A Jul-00 61.96 1179.3 238114 66905 19.3 N/A Aug-00 61.27 1153.4 236108 59965 56.9 / 2 21.7 N/A Sep-00 61.08 1146.2 235644 58449 22.1 N/A Oct-00 61.44 1159.5 237142 61667 23.1 N/A Nov-00 60.99 1142.7 235849 57271 24.2 N/A Dec-00 61.59 1165.2 237454 63656 23.8 / 2 21.8 N/A Jan-01 61.64 1167.3 238962 62922 22.2 N/A Feb-01 61.84 1174.6 239218 65324 23.5 N/A Mar-01 61.89 1176.7 239128 65898 23.1 N/A Apr-01 61.83 1174.1 239523 65280 22.6 N/A NOTES: * The dark current calculations are using full half resolution 2.668 sec images not taken in during the SAA. The dark current rate assumes a "fat zero" of 30.5 DN and a gain of 100 e/DN. * The entrance filter failure of 13-Nov-92 eliminated the capability of taking optical images, so the optical transmission is not available after Nov-92. It also caused an increase in the dark current signal, however some of the increase shown here is an increase in the readout noise and is not a function of exposure duration. Page 7 PERSONNEL TRAVEL SXT Foreign Travel between 1-MAY-01 and 31-MAY-01 BARTUS 1-MAY-01 * 31-MAY-01 * 31 (total of 31 days) CANFIELD 1-MAY-01 * 09-MAY-01 9 (total of 9 days) HUDSON 1-MAY-01 * 10-MAY-01 10 (total of 10 days) NITTA 15-MAY-01 27-MAY-01 13 (total of 13 days) TAKEDA 1-MAY-01 * 24-MAY-01 24 (total of 24 days) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Grand Total of 87 days for 5 people NOTE: The "*" signifies travel that actually ends after 31-MAY-01 SXT Foreign Travel between 1-JUN-01 and 30-JUN-01 BARTUS 1-JUN-01 * 30-JUN-01 * 30 (total of 30 days) MCKENZIE 6-JUN-01 30-JUN-01 * 25 (total of 25 days) TAKEDA 4-JUN-01 30-JUN-01 27 (total of 27 days) ---------------------------------------------------------------- Grand Total of 82 days for 3 people NOTE: The "*" signifies travel that actually ends after 30-JUN-01 Respectfully submitted, Thomas R. Metcalf Frank Friedlaender Page 8 ================================================================= Montana State Univ Activity Report for April 2001 - May 2001 ================================================================= (A. Davey) INTRODUCTION: In addition to research into solar phenomena, our activities during this period included efforts to improve the calibration of the SXT image data, service to the community, public outreach, and preparations for Yohkoh's Tenth Anniversary. RESEARCH: Loren Acton has completed a first-order analysis of sxt scattering wings. The scattering slope is hard to determine with precision because of imperfect pre-flare subtraction and coronal changes (coronal dimming, ejecta, etc.) initiated by the flare itself. A slope of -2.0, as proposed by Hara san many years ago, appears to be the best compromise. To within experimental errors the slope in the rays is also -2.0 and the intensity is 3 times less than between the rays. The program sxt_scatwings.pro will generate an appropriate scattering array for use in scattering deconvolution. This work is so far based upon thin-filter starbursts taken before the first SXT entrance filter failure. Limited study of thick-filter starbursts indicate that their scattering slope may also be represented by -2.0. However, the jury is still out on relative scattering intensity vs. wavelength, temperature, filter thickness or whatever. Especially for the thin filters, where the entrance filters represent a significant opacity, the scattering wings become non-symmetric around the image as these filters have sequentially failed. This is well illustrated by the starburst difference image of 14-Oct-1999 which nicely shows the varying intensity around the flare between the different rays. See http://solar.physics.montana.edu/acton/991014_starburst.html. Acton's work at the end of May concentrated on attempts to use SXT starburst images to better characterize the extent and location of SXT entrance filter failures. The aim of this is to enable improvements in the "cleaning" of SXT full-disk composite images. Dick Canfield worked with postdoc Bob Leamon to extend the dataset for their study of interplanetary signatures of eruptions that occurred in Yohkoh X-ray sigmoids. He worked with undergrad Angela Colman to extend their flare study to include consideration of the direction of propagation of blue-shift events. Angela successfully defended her senior thesis on this work. Canfield collaborated with various MSU colleagues, who presented papers at the Spring AGU meeting in Boston as listed below. He also collaborated with various SXT colleagues on the Whole Sun Month 3 manuscript about the topology of sigmoidal active region AR 8668. Piet Martens started collaborating with the Polish Yohkoh group (Sylwester et al.) on SXT image deconvolution, following discussions at Page 9 "Solar Encounter: The First Solar Orbiter Workshop", in Tenerife. It appears that they are developing a method distinct from BID, but also not requiring a priori knowledge of the PSF. One of Polish group's graduate students will visit MSU in the fall to work with Martens. Dave McKenzie continued working with B. Kliem and W. Curdt of SUMER, on analysis of a C flare from 6-nov-99. SXT sees expansion of one loop, while the rest of the region appears not to respond -- possibly foreground/background confusion; but SUMER sees some blobs and interesting line shifts which imply that "cool and hot plasma showed correlated line shifts and line widths, moving with about equal but opposite velocity during a short interval." McKenzie also offered input for the adjustment of automatic exposure control settings, and for the new wave-seeking flare mode table and also communicated with David Williams at The Queen's University of Belfast, regarding high-frequency intensity oscillations he's seen in green line data during the 11-Aug-99 eclipse. In regards to Acton's report about an 8% variance in the SFC total intensity, McKenzie believes that a correlation with GOES level can be ruled out. For times when the GOES level was nearly constant, the SFC total intensity shows maximal variation. Not a surprising result, but it needed to be shown. After Acton made available a model of the SXT scattering wings that includes the ray-like shadows of the mirror support (via the programs SXT_SCATWINGS), McKenzie incorporated this new model into SXT_PSF and SXT_DECON, and submitted these new editions via SSW_CONTRIB. He then used these programs to deconvolve an FFI from 3-oct-92; a difference image showing (decon with rays) minus (decon with ray-less wings) is shown at http://solar.physics.montana.edu/mckenzie/starburst_decon.gif SERVICE: Acton spent the early part of May was spent at LMATC working on the SXT proposal for Senior Review 2001. While there he gave two James T. Bunyan Lectures at Stanford. The public lecture, "The Magnetic Personality of the Universe" was well attended. The second to the Stanford Astrophysics Group was entitled, "Solar cycle dependence of coronal activity as observed by the Soft X-ray Telescope on YOHKOH" generated some interesting discussion. Canfield reformatted the SXT Chief Observer's weekly reports at http://solar.physics.montana.edu/nuggets/ and mirror sites at Lockheed, ISAS, and MSSL. He worked with Jun Sato to bring him aboard the MSU SXT team. He worked with Leamon to generate an item for the Yohkoh Senior Review proposal. Canfield drafted a letter to NASA HQ to request support of the Yohkoh 10th anniversary meeting. He also traveled to Japan to serve as SSOC Tohban and participate in collaborative research. Both Martens and McKenzie also made contributions to both the SXT Senior review. Page 10 OUTREACH: McKenzie answered some questions about big flares and the super region NOAA 9393 for MSU's science-press person, Annette Trinity-Stevens. He made available some SXT images of the corona to Scientific American magazine. The June 2001 issue will include an article about the corona. He also updated the SXT web site. Martens worked with McKenzie, Hugh Hudson, and Sam Freeland on the "SXT Rapid Response Team", to enable the SXT team to respond promptly to the need for press materials by NASA and others. Dave will be the official SXT PR point man, and both Sam and Hugh have contributed to streamlining the procedure for preparing press quality SXT flare movies. MEETING PRESENTATIONS Dana Longcope attended the meeting "High-Resolution Solar Magnetography from Space: Beyond Solar-B", in Huntsville, AL, 3-5 April 2001 and presented "Nulls in the coronal magnetic field" (see submitted publications). Piet Martens and Charles Kankelborg attended the "First Solar Orbiter Workshop", held in Tenerife, May 14-18: and presented two posters (see submitted publications). Members of the MSU Solar Physics Group attended the AGU/SPD meeting in Boston. Talks: "The Origin of Prominences and Their Hemispheric Preferences", Piet Martens, based on his paper listed below. "Properties of Magnetic Clouds Resulting from Eruption of Coronal Sigmoids", R J Leamon, R C Canfield, A A Pevtsov, given by Bob Leamon. Posters: "Preflare Phenomena in Eruptive Flares", A M Colman, R C Canfield, presented by Angela Colman. "Twist Propagation in H-alpha Surges", P Jibben, R C Canfield, presented by Trish Jibben. PUBLICATIONS: Submitted: "Nulls in the coronal magnetic field", by Dana Longcope and Petrus Martens, "High-Resolution Solar Magnetography from Space: Beyond Solar-B", Huntsville, AL, 3-5 April 2001. Page 11 "Science Objectives of the EUV Spectral Imager for Solar Orbiter", by Petrus C. Martens and Charles C. Kankelborg. Proceedings of "Solar Encounter: The First Solar Orbiter Workshop", May 14-18, Puerto de la Cruz, Spain. "Simultaneous EUV Imaging and Spectroscopy", by Charles C. Kankelborg, Petrus C. Martens and Roger J. Thomas. Proceedings of "Solar Encounter: The First Solar Orbiter Workshop", May 14-18, Puerto de la Cruz, Spain. Accepted: "Origin and Evolution of Filament-Prominence Systems", by P.C.H. Martens and C. Zwaan accepted by ApJ for publication in September. "Chromospheric Damping of Alfven Waves", by B. De Pontieu, P.C.H. Martens, and H.S. Hudson accepted by ApJ. "Model update for mesospheric/thermospheric nitric oxide", P.K. Swaminathan, D.F. Strobel, L. Acton, and L. J. Paxton, Physics and Chemistry of the Earth, Part C, Vol 26/7, pp 535-539, scheduled publication date Jun 2001 YOHKOH 10th ANNIVERSARY: Martens has completed the science program for invited speakers for the Y10 meeting and sent out the second announcement. MISCELLANEOUS: Jun Sato, currently at GSFC on the HESSI project, visited MSU for a week at the end of April. Jun will be working full-time on the Yohkoh project as an SXT Chief Observer and hard x-ray expert when he joins the MSU Solar Group in July. Work continued to put a 2.5 TB store online at MSU for Yohkoh data. This should be operational by mid June. ============================================================= Univ of Hawaii Activity Report for April 2001 - May 2001 ============================================================= (B. LaBonte) Our activities included support of Yohkoh operations and data analysis at ISAS, coordinated ground-based data acquisition (including designated Yohkoh campaigns) at Mees, collaborative analysis of Yohkoh/Mees data, and preparation of manuscripts. Operational support for SXT was provided by G. Nitta at Mees and LaBonte and Li in Manoa. Our colleagues, Canfield at Montana State University, Wuelser and Page 12 Metcalf at Lockheed, and Hudson at Solar Physics Research Corporation aided in advice and oversight of Mees operations. Weather at Mees turned for the better during these months. Observations were obtained on 60% of all scheduled days in April but 100% in May. Total coverage was limited by the number of holidays and vacations. The Sun became very active in April, with major flares in AR 9393, 9415, and 9433. Coverage of several of these events was obtained despite poor weather through the diligence of the observer G. Nitta. In April, H. Zhang from Huairou Solar Observatory visited UH. Li and LaBonte worked with Zhang on a study of the magnetic field azimuths deduced from the Huairou and Mees vector magnetic observations and deduced from photospheric, chromospheric, and coronal structure observed by Mees IVM, MCCD, TRACE, and SXT. This work is being continued to identify both the instrumental offsets and errors and biases in the field azimuth derivation from polarization data. Li continued her work on understanding the sequence of events that lead from magnetic flux emergence to the generation of large scale coronal structure observed in SXT. The key new result is the rapidity with which the coronal restructures: days to weeks. This is much faster than the flux dispersal time from active regions that had been thought to be the important timescale. Li presented this work at the AGU/SPD meeting in late May. LaBonte made a systematic survey of Mees data for cases of rotating sunspots. These represent resolvable isolated fluxtubes, and offer the opportunity to understand whether fluxtubes only lose or also gain energy from untwisting or twisting motions. A total of 20 such cases were found; the case studied in detail all show evidence of untwisting, thus energy release. The SXT observations for these cases will be the test of whether this largescale release actually shows up in coronal heating or flaring. LaBonte presented this work at the AGU/SPD. Papers presented at the AGU/SPD: ----------------------------------------- 1) The global solar corona defined by newly emerged flux at low latitudes 2001. Li, J, LaBonte, B., Acton, L W., Slater, G L. EOS, 82, S319. 2) Untwisting Sunspots 2001. LaBonte, B J. EOS, 82, S314. 3) Sunspot Formation from Emerging Flux Ropes - Observations from Flare Genesis Rust, D M., Bernasconi, P N., Georgoulis, M K., LaBonte, B J., Schmieder, B. EOS, 82, S395. 4) Peculiar Moving Magnetic Features Observed With the Flare Genesis Experiment Bernasconi, P N., Rust, D M., Georgoulis, M K., LaBonte, B J., Schmieder, B. Page 13 EOS, 82, 396. Papers using Mees data presented at the AGU/SPD: ------------------------- 1) Colman, A M., Canfield, R C.: 2001, EOS, "Preflare Phenomena in Eruptive Flares" 2) Jibben, P ., Canfield, R C.: 2001, EOS, "Twist Propagation in H-alpha Surges" 3) Leka, K D., and Rangarajan, K E.: 2001, EOS, "The Effect of ``Seeing'' on Imaging Vector Magnetograph Measurements of Solar Active Regions" 4) Metcalf, T R, and Leka, K D.: 2001, EOS, "A Comparison of the Active Region Magnetic Field in the Photosphere and Chromosphere" 5) Moon, Y., Choe, G S., Yun, H S., Park, Y D., Mickey, D L.: 2001, EOS "Force-Freeness of Solar Magnetic Fields in the Photosphere" ============================================================ Stanford Univ Activity Report for April 2001 - May 2001 ============================================================ (P. Sturrock) Peter Sturrock and Mark Weber are continuing to compare SXT data with neutrino data, with the goal of confirming or disproving early claims of association between neutrino flux measurements and various indices of solar activity, including coronal brightness. Massetti and Storini [1996, ApJ 472, 827] carried out tests for correlation between coronal green-line data and Homestake neutrino measurements. We are working with neutrino measurements produced by the GALLEX and GNO experiments, and X-ray flux measurements from SXT. As part of the work for his dissertation, Mark has already compiled time series for the daily mean SXT flux for the nine latitude bins, 60S, 45S,..., 45N, 60N. We have continued the studies outlined in the previous report. There appears to be good evidence (confidence level > 99%) that the solar neutrino flux, as measured by the GALLEX-GNO experiment, and the low-latitude SXT flux exhibit the same periodicity with a frequency of 13.68 cycles per year, or a period of 26.9 days. This is very close to the periodicity at 27.03 days found in Ulysses solar-wind data by Neugebauer et al. [J.G.R. 105, 2315]. This result, if confirmed, may answer the long-standing puzzle of why the solar corona exhibits rigid rotation. Wang & Sheeley have found that, taking account of diffusion, differential rotation, and meridional flow in the photosphere, the magnetic field at the photosphere tends to organize itself into rigidly rotating patterns. An alternative Page 14 interpretation, proposed by Stenflo and others, is that the large-scale coronal structure is determined by magnetic flux anchored to structures deep in the convection zone. Since modulation of the neutrino flux, if real, is almost certainly due to strong magnetic structures deep in the convection zone (or radiative zone), the common periodicity of the neutrino measurements and the SXT measurements points towards the Stenflo interpretation. We plan to extend our analysis to include recent SXT measurements that were not included in Mark's dissertation work. We plan also to examine the way the neutrino and SXT power spectra change with phase of the solar cycle by applying time-frequency analysis to these two data-sets. This work was presented at the recent AGU-SPD meeting in Boston. =========================================================================== Solar Physics Research Corp. Activity Report for April 2001 - May 2001 =========================================================================== (Karen L. Harvey and Hugh S. Hudson) KAREN L. HARVEY: Activities for April and May: (1) Continued with the analysis of the 18 December 1998 HAO/CHIP He I 10830 data to measure the magnetic flux as a function of time within an area bounded by the two flare ribbons and the polarity inversion separating them and within the associated transient coronal holes and comparison with other data for this event. As mentioned in previous reports, the objective of this study being done in collaboration with Terry Forbes, is to determine the reconnection rate of a flare. The measurements were made by mapping the flare and coronal hole boundaries one the singe NSO/KP full-disk magnetogram for 18 December, assuming that the photospheric field is radial and does not change over the observed during of the flare. We find that the combined magnetic flux in the flare ribbon and transient coronal hole in the positive flux is equal to that in the unsigned negative polarity. We are now checking to see if a possible obscuration of the east He I 10830 ribbon and coronal hole by He I 10830 post-flare loops is the reason that the magnetic flux in two flare ribbons and in the two coronal holes is not equal. Hugh Hudson put together the SXT observations available for this event; unfortunately scattered light obscured the transient coronal holes, so that we will not be able to use these data to compare dimmings with the He I 10830 holes. (2) Continuing with a comparison of the coronal holes identified in NSO/KP He I 10830 rotation maps and with corresponding Yohkoh/SXT rotation maps to determine if the structures identified as coronal holes Page 15 in He I 10830 all are associated with low emission areas. (3) Updated the SXT bibliography for papers presented at meetings from 1997 to the present. Plans for June and July: Continued analysis and study (1) with T. Forbes of the reconnection rate of magnetic fields during long-duration arcade events/He I 10830 2-ribbon flares and comparison of the transient coronal holes with X-ray dimmings; (2) of the association of coronal holes observed in He I 10830 spectroheliograms and the SXT full-frame and synoptic images; this includes isolated, non-polar coronal holes, as well as the transient coronal holes; (3) of collected XBP data, looking at the association and timing of XBP with magnetic bipole evolution, and cycle variation (the latter with K. Strong). PUBLICATIONS Papers Accepted: "A Transitory Corotating Stream, a Short-Lived Coronal Hole, and Related Magnetic Fields", L. F. Burlaga, K. L. Harvey, N. R. Sheeley, Jr., J. Geophys. Res. (2001). HUGH S. HUDSON Activities for April and May: Major activities in May consisted working with the April 18 hard X-ray ejection event and generally preparing for AGU/SPD. This involved helping with one poster (Freeland and Hudson) and two talks (those with Kahler on coronal-hole boundaries and with Fletcher on ribbon development). I had intended to present my own work directly but missed the abstract deadline! However, the Kahler and Fletcher papers were warmly received, so maybe this is a better way to proceed. Half of the Freeland poster got converted into an overview of the April 18 event, which in fact had been noticed by other people. This unique example of a moving hard X-ray source points, I think, to the presence in expanding coronal loops of large populations of high-energy electrons. These would have been noticed as U-bursts prior to the hard X-ray imaging. If this interpretation is correct, the non-thermal electrons may have a major energetic role in these loop expansions, which could be similar to what we observe in soft X-rays (and termed "plasmoids" by some). The feedback on the Freeland poster makes it clear that this search activity for limb flares should be continued and finished. I hope and suspect that this kind of observation will turn into a major activity for HESSI. Page 16 Plans for June and July: The CESRA meeting in early July will provide the perfect opportunity for the long-awaited paper "Why does SXT have trouble seeing global waves?" Other than this, the activities hoped for include (a) further work on electron energy (see the nugget for June 1); (b) spatial intermittency from nanoflares; (c) CH work with Kahler, extending from his visit to ISAS and possibly involving new ideas about the network; and (d) of course HESSI. At the time of writing the launch had been slipped until June 14, so keep your fingers crossed please. PUBLICATIONS Papers Published: "Onset of the Magnetic Explosion in Solar Flares and Coronal Mass Ejections," R. L. Moore, A. C. Sterling, H. S. Hudson, and J. R. Lemen, ApJ 552, 833 (2001). "The Physical Nature of the Loop-Top X-Ray Sources in the Gradual Phase of Solar Flares," N. V. Nitta, J. Sato, and H. S. Hudson, ApJ 552, 821, (2001). Papers Accepted: "Chromospheric Damping of Alfven Waves", by B. De Pontieu, P.C.H. Martens, and H.S. Hudson, ApJ. Papers Submitted: "The Magnetic Structure and Generation of EUV Flare Ribbons," L. Fletcher and H. S. Hudson (Solar Phys.). "Hard X-ray Two-Ribbon Flare Observed with Yohkoh/HXT," S. Masuda, T. Kosugi, and H. S. Hudson (Solar Phys.). TAKEDA AKI: Activities for April and May: I worked for three full weeks in total as an SXT_CO or a Yohkoh operator at SSOC as below. week 16 (16-Apr through 22-Apr): SXT_CO (1/2 week, shared with H. Hudson) week 17 (23-Apr through 29-Apr): SXT_CO (1/2 week, shared with H. Hudson) week 19 (7-May through 13-May): Yohkoh operator at SSOC (full week) week 20 (14-May through 20-May): SXT_CO (full week) In April, I explored the possibility of constructing whole-sun images from the Partial Frame Images (so-called PFIs) with SXT. I studied on the actions performed by the SXT and DP during subsequent exposures, Page 17 thereby checked the time cadence of taking the whole frame, and confirmed that the observational sequence to take PFIs really work (at least in NSxEW= 5x7 shape). As a result, the SXT table uploaded on 18th April yielded 14 complete 5x7 PFIs during the 1st to 4th KSC passes. As I wrote in the previous report, SXT_COs are responsible for leading the sigmoid campaign, as a target of opportunity. In week 18, when a good sigmoid showed up on the solar disk, we (R. Canfield, H. Hudson, and A.T.) discussed on the sequence for calling and terminating the campaign. For me it was so instructive that I wrote an instruction for future use. http://isass1.solar.isas.ac.jp/sxt_co/sigmoid_camp.html In week 20, I completed my third science nugget, "Cleverly-Designed Image Buffers", in which I reviewed the image-buffering system adopted to SXT and showed how Yohkoh produces continuous data stream to be received by us on the ground. http://isass1.solar.isas.ac.jp/nuggets/2001/010518/010518.html I attended the AGU/SPD meeting held in Boston from 28th May. There, I gave a poster presentation. Right before the meeting, I took a good opportunity to visit the Air Force Research Laboratory on 25th May by courtesy of S. Kahler, who had stayed at ISAS during March and April 2001. JANOS BARTUS Activities for April and May: - guest account arrangement on isass0/1 - IMAP installation, configuration on isass1 - working out public key based passwordless ssh2 authentication for sxt_co, software from isass0/1 to flare1 - ftpd upgrade on pollux and castor, opening SXT database anonymous ftp access for the world on those machine - negotiations about the new network arrangements in the new ISAS "A" building with the ISAS system managers - nessus security port checker upgrade and its application for isass0/1/5, pollux, castor, isasxa, isasxb -> elimination of the security holes were found - go_go_toban.pro debugging -> bug found in IDL 5.3 - took over the maintenance of the ISAS TRACE database (setting up new mirror scripts, working out a secure way for mirroring the database from LMSAL, setting up a new policy for handling this large database in the limited local storage area) - contribution in the ISAS DARTS public database project, maintaining TRACE and SXT databases for DARTS - installation a terminal server on isass0, setting up the communication between the new linux system and the video laser disk recorder in order to make possible the SXT video CD creation from the new linux environment too, still incompatibility problems between the NVS video device's PC/TCP ftp server and the linux kernel, soon worked out Page 18 - network card replacement in isass1 - security concerned upgrades, various package enhancements and installations, new kernel installation on isass0/1 - daily sysadmin works Plans for June and July: - writing a script environment for automatic isass0-->isass1 switch if isass1 fails (in progress) - visit LMSAL for some weeks, working together with Greg Slater: - upgrading castor and larry - working out the method of generation SXS videos on DVD - SXT data reformatting training from Greg - improving my knowledge in BASH, Perl, PHP4 scripting - hopefully pollux's upgrade can take place =========================================================================== University of California Activity Report for April 2001 - May 2001 =========================================================================== (G. Fisher) Johns-Krull, Fisher, and Pevtsov (NSO) have done more work on a paper describing the relationship between X-ray luminosity and magnetic flux. Johns-Krull has reduced data for 3 more pre-main sequence stars to add to the Lx vs Phi plot, and Fisher and Johns-Krull are making revisions to Pevtsov's original version of the manuscript. Johns-Krull has continued analysis of the H-alpha linear polarization data that he and Fisher obtained at BBSO over the past couple of years. Further analysis has pushed the detection limit down to approximately 0.3% with still no firm detections. Comparison with X-ray data has shown that we did in fact cover the times of maximum electron acceleration (an issue since we did not get on the flaring active regions until after the flare onset), so our polarization limits should be significant with regard to possible proton acceleration. Page 19 ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- NASA REPORT DOCUMENTATION PAGE (IN LIEU OF NASA FORM 1626) --------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------- 1. REPORT NO. | 2. GOVERNMENT | 3. RECIPIENT'S DR-01 | ACCESSION NO. | CATALOG NO. --------------------|--------------------------|------------------------------- 4. TITLE AND SUBTITLE | 5. REPORT DATE Monthly progress report - for the month of | 10 June 2001 May 2001 |------------------------------- | 6. PERFORMING ORG | CODE: O/L9-41 -----------------------------------------------|------------------------------- 7. AUTHOR(S) | 8. PERFORMING ORGANIZA- T. R. Metcalf | TION REPORT NO: F. M. Friedlaender | |------------------------------- -----------------------------------------------|10. WORK UNIT NO. 9. PERFORMING ORGANIZATION NAME AND ADDRESS | Lockheed Martin Missiles and Space |------------------------------- Advanced Technology Center, O/L9-41, B/252 |11. CONTRACT OR GRANT NO. 3251 Hanover Street, Palo Alto Ca. 94304 | NAS8 - 00119 -----------------------------------------------|------------------------------- 12. SPONSORING AGENCY NAME AND ADDRESS |13. TYPE OF REPORT AND Marshall Space Flight Center (Explorer Program)| PERIOD COVERED Huntsville Alabama 35812 | Progress report for the month Contact: Larry Hill | of May 2001 |------------------------------- |14. SPONSORING AGENCY | CODE MSFC / AP32 -----------------------------------------------|------------------------------- 15. SUPPLEMENTARY NOTES ------------------------------------------------------------------------------- 16. ABSTRACT The SOLAR-A Mission is a program of the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), the Japanese agency for scientific space activity. The SOLAR-A satellite was launched on August 30, 1991, to study high energy phenomena in solar flares. As an international cooperative agreement, Lockheed, under NASA contract, is providing a scientific investigation and has prepared the Soft X-ray Telescope (SXT), one of the two primary experiments of the mission. --------------------------------------|---------------------------------------- 17. KEY WORDS (SUGGESTED BY | 18. DISTRIBUTION STATEMENT AUTHOR(S)) Solar-A, X-ray, CCD, | Space Science, Solar Physics ------------------------|-------------|----------|-----------------|----------- 19. SECURITY CLASSIF. | 20. SECURITY CLASSIF. | 21. NO OF PAGES |22. PRICE (OF THIS REPORT) | (OF THIS PAGE) | | None | None | 19 | ------------------------|------------------------|-----------------|-----------