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D.A. Lamb (Univ. of Colorado / SwRI), C.E. DeForest (Southwest Research Institute)
We have developed flux concentration tracking software to track and identify flux concentration behavior and origin events in photospheric magnetogram sequences. The tracking software is switchable to test and compare the behavior of two existing tracking codes, those of Hagenaar et al. (1999) and Parnell (2002). We present initial results from the use of the software on a deep-field sequence of MDI magnetograms. In particular, the two tracking methods yield significantly different distributions of flux concentration sizes. Furthermore, based on the ratio of coherent and incoherent origin of magnetic flux concentrations in a sequence of deep-field MDI magnetograms, it appears that ephemeral regions are not typically formed by emergence but rather by random coalescence of groups of smaller, unresolved flux concentrations. Hence, the size distribution of the solar network magnetic field may not be determined by the scale of the small-scale dynamo but rather by the clustering statistics of magnetic field elements in the surface flow field. We present a preliminary analysis and discuss the implications of flux emergence clustering in the quiet sun.
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Bulletin of the American Astronomical Society, 36 #2
© YEAR. The American Astronomical Soceity.