HIAC
CSAC Community
Hinode |SDO/HMI |ASP |NSO/SOLIS | NSO/DLSP | SPINOR | SST/SPHinode
 | HINODE (Sunrise in Japanese), sometimes referred to by its pre-launch name Solar-B, is an international space observatory that carries advanced instrumentation for solar observations. Developed by the Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, in collaboration with NASA and PPARC in the UK, HINODE was launched from Uchinoura Space Center (Japan) on Sept 22, 2006 at 21:36 GMT. After the initial post-launch tests and maneuvers, the satellite was placed on a heliosynchronous orbit that allows it to continuously track the solar disk and perform detailed observations. |
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:
Institute of Space and Astronautical Science - JAXA
Hinode (Solar-B) Project Office at NAOJ
Hinode (Solar-B)- NASA
First Light for Hinode - Scienc@NASA Headline Feature
CSAC Hinode SOT/SP Inversion Client
The Merlin inversion code developed under CSAC was designed to process the Hinode/SP data. An example of an inversion of Hinode/SP data is shown below.
The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory
 | The primary goal of the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) investigation is to study the origin of solar variability and to characterize and understand the Sun's interior and the various components of magnetic activity. The HMI investigation is based on measurements obtained with the HMI instrument as part of the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) mission. HMI makes measurements of the motion of the solar photosphere to study solar oscillations and measurements of the polarization in a spectral line to study all three components of the photospheric magnetic field. HMI produces data to determine the interior sources and mechanisms of solar variability and how the physical processes inside the Sun are related to surface magnetic field and activity. It also produces data to enable estimates of the coronal magnetic field for studies of variability in the extended solar atmosphere. HMI observations will enable establishing the relationships between the internal dynamics and magnetic activity in order to understand solar variability and its effects, leading to reliable predictive capability, one of the key elements of NASA's Living With a Star (LWS) program. |
NASA Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)
Stanford HMI Site
VFISV, the SP Inversion Code for SDO/HMI
Advanced Stokes Polarimeter (ASP)
 | The Advanced Stokes Polarimeter may be regarded as the instrumental facility that ushered in the modern age of quantitative solar magnetic field measurement. A joint effort between HAO/NCAR and the National Solar Observatory (NSO), the ASP saw first light in late 1991, and began scientific observations in early 1992. Over the next 15 years the ASP was essentially unsurpassed as a tool for providing precision vector magnetic field measurements through spectro-polarimetry at visible spectral wavelengths. Still operative, the ASP is capable of providing data over a range of wavelengths between about 440 - 800 nm. Within the last few years capability of ASP has been largely supplanted and upgraded at NSO by the DLSP and SPINOR instruments (both also joint NSO/HAO efforts). |
The ASP was not just a program for instrumentation. HAO also developed an extensive suite of data reduction and analysis tools to facilitate scientific data analysis. The expertise developed in the polarization calibration of the ASP has been extended to many of the recent space- and ground-based instruments (Hinode/SP, SDO/HMI, DLSP, SSO/SP, SPINOR..). The HAO/ASP inversion code that derives measures of the magnetic field vector and other parameters describing the solar atmosphere set the standard for reliable and robust analysis. The AZAM utility, written in the IDL language, was developed as a tool to display results from the inversion, and also allow the resolution of the 180-degree ambiguity in the inferred field azimuth. The CSAC initiative will adapt the AZAM utility to use with newer sources of spectro-polarimetric data (CAZAM).
NSO/Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS)
 | Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) is a new synoptic facility for solar observations over a long time frame that is funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF) and designed and built by the National Solar Observatory (NSO). SOLIS will provide unique observations of the Sun on a continuing basis for several decades using state-of-the-art techniques. These long-term studies of the astronomical object most important to humanity will provide fundamental data to understand the solar activity cycle, sudden energy releases in the solar atmosphere, and solar irradiance changes and their relationship to global change. -NSO |
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:
NSO/SOLIS Site
The Merlin inversion code developed under CSAC has been adapted to process the SOLIS data. An small portion of a full-disk inversion of SOLIS data with MERLIN with default settings is shown below (please note that SOLIS is exhibiting some instrumental artifacts that are not removed from the data used in this inversion). These images can be compared to the NSO quicklook inversions for the region (AR 10978) - opens in a new window.
Diffraction-Limited Spectro-Polarimeter (DLSP)
The DLSP is a spectro-polarimeter designed to supplant and improve upon the ASP for routine vector magnetic field measurements of the solar photosphere. It is optimized to take advantage of the new high angular resolution adaptive optics capability at the Dunn Solar Telescope (DST) of the National Solar Observatory. Like the Hinode/SP, it operates only at the 630 nm photospheric Fe I lines.
Data calibration/reduction software for the DLSP was developed under CSAC. That software built upon analysis techniques perfected for the ASP, but it represents an entirely new code that is much easier to modify and understand. The code was translated to FORTRAN to enable real-time calibration of the data as it is taken – an aid to observers because the DST imparts significant polarization that must be compensated in order to produce quick-look images of the vector magnetic field. The DLSP data reduction code served as a model for producing similar reduction codes for the Hinode/SP and the SST/SP. The reduction/calibration codes for each of these instruments differ substantially because of the unique characteristics of each instrument and the data it produces.
The Merlin inversion code developed under CSAC has been adapted to process the DLSP data. An example of an inversion of DLSP data is shown below.
Spectro-Polarimeter for Infrared and Optical Regions (SPINOR)
SPINOR builds upon the heritage and extends the capabilities of the ASP at the NSO Dunn Solar Telescope. SPINOR offer users the flexibility to make detailed Stokes measurements of lines in the chromosphere and photosphere almost simultaneously in virtually any combination of 3 spectral regions in the 400-1000nm spectral range.
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:
SPINOR Site at HAO
More CSAC SPINOR Information
The Spectro-Polarimeter at the Swedish Solar Telescope
 | Atmospheric conditions permitting, the Swedish Solar Telescope on La Palma (Canary Islands, Spain) produces the highest resolution solar images available. The imaging capability of the SST is roughly twice that of the Hinode telescope; consequently, there are solar fine-scale structures that are visible only at this higher resolution (0.1 arcsecond). To explore the fine scale structure, a spectro-polarimeter has been developed at the SST. The data reduction and inversion software developed for the SST has been adapted to process data from the SST/SP. |
FOR MORE INFORMATION VISIT:
Institute for Solar Physics at the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences.
The SST Wiki