Dynamic Observations of Solar Magnetic and Velocity Fields

Stanford University, Stanford CA

Investigators

Abstract

The investigators will work to understand the physical nature of large-scale phenomena on the Sun. The main effort is to make long-term observations of large-scale magnetic fields, interpret interrelated phenomena seen on the solar surface, and develop realistic models of the processes acting in the solar interior, corona, and solar wind. Dynamic changes of solar magnetic fields affect the corona, interplanetary space, and finally the terrestrial environment on a vast range of time scales. Short and intermediate time scale magnetic variations drive geomagnetic activity, while longer term changes in the overall level of solar activity seem to be related to irradiance variations, and therefore to climate change. The investigators will continue several specific lines of investigation presently supported by an expiring NSF grant. The main research topics are mechanisms of solar activity on cycle and shorter time scales, magnetic structure and evolution of the solar corona and heliosphere, and prediction of geoeffective solar inputs to the terrestrial environment. These studies are based on analysis of solar magnetic field observations made at the Wilcox Solar Observatory (WSO) and other observatories such as SOHO/MDI, NSO, etc. Coronal fields are estimated by numerical model calculations. The investigators also will continue partial support of SolarMail, and SolarNews. These services are provided to support the general solar physics community. They can be accessed via the web at http://spd.aas.org/.