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M. F. Woodard, C. Denker (Big Bear Solar Observatory/NJIT), L. H. Strous (Lockheed-Martin Solar and Astrophysics Lab), BBSO Collaboration, LMSAL Collaboration
We present the application of Local Correlation Tracking (LCT) techniques to time series of contrast-enhanced H-alpha full disk images taken as part of the synoptic observing program at Big Bear Solar Observatory (BBS0) during the summer of 1998. A typical set of daily H-alpha full disk images consists of 600 to 800 individual frames, taken 30 to 60 s apart, with a 2k x 2k pixel Kodak 4.2 MegaPlus CCD camera at BBSO's Singer telescope.
For each pair of successive images, we compute displacement vectors over a 64 x 64 element cartesian grid covering the solar disk. The resulting daily-averaged flow maps show predominantly solar differential rotation and proper motions in active regions. We remap the flow maps to heliographic coordinates and determine a Legendre polynomial expansion of the daily differential rotation profile.
We present preliminary findings regarding differential rotation based on different types of features seen in H-alpha, such as quiet-sun fibrils, plages, and dark filaments. We discuss the relation of our differential rotation profiles to profiles derived by other methods and address the question of time variability.
The work at BBSO is supported by ONR under grant N00014-97-1-1037, by NSF under grant ATM 97-14796, and by NASA under grant NAG 5-4919. Louis Strous is supported by NASA NAG5-3077 to Stanford University.
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