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Advances in Space Research 43 (2009) 995–1000


www.elsevier.com/locate/asr

Scientific requirements for future spatially resolved white-light


and broad-band high-cadence observations of the Sun
Igor S. Veselovsky a,b,*, Serge Koutchmy c
a
Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow State University, Moscow 119992, Russia
b
Institute of Space Research (IKI), Russian Academy of Sciences, Moscow 117997, Russia
c
Institut d’Astrophysique de Paris, CNRS and University Pierre et Marie Curie, France

Received 16 February 2007; received in revised form 21 August 2008; accepted 24 October 2008

Abstract

Several important issues are open in the field of solar variability and they wait their solution which up to now was attempted using
critical ground-based instrumentations. However, accurate photometric data are attainable only from space. New observational material
should be collected with high enough spatial and spectral resolution, covering the whole visible range of the electromagnetic spectrum as
well infrared and ultraviolet to reconstruct the total solar irradiance: (1) the absolute contributions of different small-scale structural enti-
ties of the solar atmosphere from the white light flares and from micro-flares are still poorly known; (2) we do not know the absolute
contributions of different structural elements of the solar atmosphere to the long-term and to the cyclic variations of the solar irradiance,
including features of the polar regions of the Sun; (3) the variations of the chromospheric magnetic network are still poorly evaluated; (4)
only scarce information is available about the spectral variations of different small-scale features in the high photosphere. Variability of
the Sun in white light can be studied with higher spectral, spatial and time resolution using space-born telescopes, which are more appro-
priate for this purpose than ground based observatories because of better seeing conditions, no interference of the terrestrial atmosphere
and a more precise calibration procedure. Scientific requirements for such observations and the possible experimental tools proposed for
their solution. Suggested solar studies have broader astrophysical importance.
Ó 2008 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Keywords: Sun; Solar activity; Flares; Coronal mass ejections; Solar irradiance variations; White light; High resolution; Photosphere; Chromosphere

1. Introduction in observations, but now it is appreciated, including the


case of the fast wind. Why photosphere, white light (WL)
Nobody doubts about the relevance of the chromo- and broad band (BB) observations are needed to solve
sphere for flares. The old term ‘chromospheric flare’ nicely problems of solar flares, CMEs and solar activity cycles?
expresses this attitude. The relevance of the chromosphere The photosphere is the closest observable domain to
dynamics for coronal mass ejections (CMEs) is not so evi- opaque interiors. Processes in the chromosphere and in
dent (prominences, dimming; waves, electromagnetic cou- the corona could be better understood only with better
plings) and still under debates. We believe that this role knowledge of the photospheric dynamics, which is trans-
is very important and still underestimated. The same can mitting energy, momentum and mass to these atmospheric
be said about the role of the chromosphere for the solar layers from interiors. The ultimate free energy, momentum
wind formation. Initially it was neglected in theory and and mass sources of the solar activity are inside interiors of
the Sun. The main observed energy and power variations in
*
absolute values associated with the solar activity cycle
Corresponding author. Address: Institute of Nuclear Physics, Moscow
State University, Moscow 119992, Russia.
belong to WL, not to other secondary domains of the elec-
E-mail address: veselov@dec1.sinp.msu.ru (I.S. Veselovsky). tromagnetic spectrum with shorter or longer wavelengths

0273-1177/$36.00 Ó 2008 COSPAR. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.


doi:10.1016/j.asr.2008.10.020
996 I.S. Veselovsky, S. Koutchmy / Advances in Space Research 43 (2009) 995–1000

or to the solar wind outflow. The sufficiently detailed


knowledge of the solar WL and BB variability near its
spectral maximum is of paramount importance, but still
not available. It includes the ubiquitous chromospheric
magnetic network and its photospheric counterparts: the
supergranulation flows. But, these variations relatively sub-
tle, they are difficult to measure in a reliable manner. They
are often neglected in models. Insufficient combined spec-
tral/space/time resolution is a big unsolved problem (Vese-
lovsky and Koutchmy, 2006).
White-light continuum occurs in essentially all flares
(Hudson et al., 2006), but sensitivity levels and contrast
could be insufficient for the registration of the WL signal
(Neidig, 1989). We believe that WLs are direct indicators
of subphotospheric drivers of solar flares. Local 25%
increase in effective photosphere temperature here is suffi-
cient to produce double brightening in the flare foot points.
Non-thermal processes are also possible here. The Sun is
the yellow-green star, which dissipates its energy mainly
in WL. Here is the main dissipation channel of the solar
energy. We strongly believe based on presented arguments
Fig. 1. Sample of a broad band CaII K filtergram (393.3 nm, 0.4 nm
about the important role of the missing or insufficient
FWHM). Courtesy of Christian Viladrich (France).
information namely about this main, but not sufficiently
explored channel of the dissipation. We think that it is a
rational of suggested studies. 3. Weaknesses of current and planned missions

2. The foot point problem What do we have for observations of solar activity dur-
ing the next cycle? Let us briefly discuss some current as
What is the difference in plasma parameters, electric and well as planned missions and projects (at the ground and
magnetic fields between hot and cool foot points at the in space).
photospheric level? This important question (Katsukawa Solar Radiation and Climate Experiment (SORCE) satel-
and Tsuneta, 2005) is still open and cannot be resolved lite (http://lasp.colorado.edu/sorce/) measures the Sun’s
without photospheric WL and chromospheric BB high- output with the use of state-of-the-art radiometers, spec-
cadence measurements. Note that not only faculae are seen trometers, photodiodes, detectors, and bolometers. The
near the disk center, but the network bright elements are measurements provided by SORCE specifically address
evidenced, as well as polar faculae (Fig. 1). The problems long-term climate change, natural variability and enhanced
of coronal heating also cannot be resolved using theoretical climate prediction, and atmospheric ozone and UV-B radia-
modeling alone. New observations of high photometric tion. No telescopically resolved images. Nevertheless, the
precision are needed in this case too. No single index (the very important finding for the first time is that the total solar
sunspot number, the f10.7, Ca K, and Mg II indices, and irradiance increase during October 28, 2003 flare was about
the He I equivalent width) can satisfactorily describe both 4.6  1032 ergs, i.e. 0.27% (Woods et al., 2004). This is in con-
the level of variability on time scales beyond 27 days, and cord with our expectation that WL energy contribution plays
relative changes of irradiance on shorter time scales (Dud- the important role as a primary factor in the solar flare phe-
ok de Wit et al., 2008). Any significant variation was not nomenon (Veselovsky et al., 2004). Another interesting
found in umbral core of sunspots, mean umbral and mean result for the UV flare variations is that the broad wings of
penumbral intensities with solar cycle (Mathew et al., the H I Lyman-alpha (121.6 nm) emission increased by more
2007), which is in contrast to earlier findings for the umbral than a factor of 2 during the X17 flare while the core of the
core intensity. A strong and clear dependence of the Lyman-alpha emission only increased by 20%. Systematic
umbral brightness on sunspot size exist. Solar irradiance measurements of this kind are needed in future comple-
variations show strong wavelength dependence. Data is mented by telescopically resolved images. By the way, the
not sufficient for their direct evaluation. Observed SUSIM albedo of the Earth and the lack of strict instantaneous bal-
UV spectra were used to extrapolate available models to ance between incoming and out-coming energy is still poorly
shorter wavelengths with the conclusion: up to 60% of know (http://lasp.colorado.edu/sorce/2006ScienceMeeting/
the total irradiance variations over the solar cycle might presentations/Day01_Wed/S1_01_Woods.pdf). Contribu-
be produced at wavelengths below 400 nm (Krivova tion of clouds and characteristic time scales in this approxi-
et al., 2006). This conclusion needs direct observational mate balance variations remain one of challenges in our
check. knowledge of climate.
I.S. Veselovsky, S. Koutchmy / Advances in Space Research 43 (2009) 995–1000 997

SOHO is a very successful mission, but it has no WL The Space Weather Explorer – KuaFu mission is being
diagnostics with demanded sensitivity and resolution to proposed as a ‘‘L1 + Polar” triple star project, which aims
observe eruptive processes and long-term variations on at space weather science and provide simultaneous, long-
the disk. TRACE (Transition Region And Coronal term, and synoptic observations of the complete chain of
Explorer) is also a highly successful satellite mission with disturbances from the solar atmosphere to the geospace.
following three science objectives (http://sun- The KuaFu mission is composed of three spacecraft:
land.gsfc.nasa.gov/smex/trace/): (1) to follow the evolu- KuaFu-A, KuaFu-B1 and KuaFu-B2. KuaFu-A will be
tion of magnetic field structures from the solar surface located at the L1 liberation point and have instruments
to the corona; (2) to investigate the mechanisms of the to observe solar extreme ultraviolet (EUV) emissions and
heating of the outer solar atmosphere (3) to investigate white light Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), and to mea-
the triggers and onset of solar flares and mass ejections. sure radio waves, the local plasma and magnetic field,
We can suggest that a similar mission should be comple- and high-energy particles. KuaFu-B1 and KuaFu-B2 will
mented by WL observations of the photospheric dynam- fly in polar orbits chosen to facilitate continuous (24 hours
ics with a comparable space–time resolution and a a day) observation of the north polar aurora oval. The mis-
photometric quality over the whole disk. sion is suggested to be launched at the next solar maximum
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO) is intended to help about in 2012, and with an initial mission lifetime of two to
understanding of the Sun’s influence on Earth and Near- three years. KuaFu data will be used for the scientific study
Earth space by studying the solar atmosphere on small of space weather phenomena, and will be used for space
scales of space and time and in many wavelengths simul- weather monitoring and forecast purposes. It will also sup-
taneously. (http://sdo.gsfc.nasa.gov/sdo_mission_sci- port fundamental research on the following subjects: to
ence. htm). SDO goals are formulated as follows: (1) identify on the Sun the unique signatures indicating erup-
understand the solar cycle; (2) identify the role of the tive events, to study various coupling relations between dif-
magnetic field in delivering energy to the solar atmosphere ferent phenomena in the course of the disturbance
and its many layers; (3) study how the outer regions of propagation from the Sun to geospace, the physical pro-
the Sun’s atmosphere evolve over time – ranging from cesses of energy transfer from input to the sink of the
seconds to centuries – and space; (4) monitor the radia- Sun-geospace system. The KuaFu mission will be an essen-
tion (ex: UV, EUV, etc.) levels of solar output. The goals tial element of the ILWS mission lineup. Moreover, KuaFu
1, 2 need additional full disk observations about BB vari- and Solar Obiter together will offer unique perspectives and
ations, which are beyond the scope of this potentially pro- new vantage points for three-dimensional global solar
lific mission. and heliospheric research. http://www.cosis.net/abstracts/
Science goals of Solar-B mission – to determine the IAGA2005/01035/IAGA2005-A-01035.pdf. No WL tele-
mechanisms responsible for heating the corona in active scopic observations of the solar photosphere are envisioned
regions and the quiet Sun; to determine the mechanisms in this project.
responsible for transient phenomena, such as flares and SMESE/LYOT project is a small satellite mission for
coronal mass ejections; to investigate the processes respon- the investigation of the structure and variability of the
sible for energy transfer from the photosphere to the cor- low solar corona observed in UV Lyman alpha emission
ona (http://www.mssl.ucl.ac.uk/www_solar/solarB/science. of the disk and out of the limb using telescope and corona-
html). It is evident, that these goals are not achievable in graph images obtained with a high space and time resolu-
a full measure because the lack of needed high cadence tion. The focus of the mission is on the space weather
WL and BB measurements, including full-disk images. applications and high signal to noise ratio when monitor-
The Sunrise project aims at high-resolution spectro- ing the chromospheric as well coronal structures to infer
polarimetric observations of the solar atmosphere ‘on the the magnetic fields in the corona (http://www.ias.u-
intrinsic spatial scale of its magnetic structure’ (http:// psud.fr/www/tpl2page.php?pageID=717). No telescopi-
www.mps.mpg.de/de/projekte/sunrise/). Balloon born tele- cally resolved photospheric WL images are envisioned in
scope with 1 m aperture has very limited temporal cover- this interesting project.
age. Spectra and images will resolve spatial scales down Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (ATST) is a 4-m
to 35 km on the Sun. The main scientific goal of the mis- ground based facility to study fundamental astrophysical
sion is to understand the formation of magnetic structures processes in the solar atmosphere (http://atst.nso.edu/).
in the solar atmosphere and to study their interaction with The ATST project intends to attack critical details of the
the convective plasma flows. It is assumed that ‘‘the mag- non-linear dynamical processes that govern the highly con-
netic field is the source of solar activity”. This pre-assump- ducting, turbulent solar plasma. Angular resolution is
tion is still an open issue: not only the magnetic field, but 0.1 arcsec or better, good cadence. A broad set of diag-
also other independent electrodynamic parameters (first nostics from 0.3 to 35 lm. Precise magnetic and velocity
of all – electric fields) and plasma characteristics, radiation field measurements are envisioned to resolve the pressure
and bulk plasma energy transports, play important role in scale height and the photon mean free path. No precise
the solar activity phenomena (Veselovsky and Panasenco, and absolute IR and WL intensity calibration is possible,
2006). because of the atmospheric perturbations and no full disk
998 I.S. Veselovsky, S. Koutchmy / Advances in Space Research 43 (2009) 995–1000

observations. No 24 h coverage. The broad scientific ques- 4. Requirements for future observations
tions are: (1) How are cosmic magnetic fields generated and
how are they destroyed? (2) What role do cosmic magnetic What do we need ideally?
fields play in the organization of plasma structures and the
impulsive releases of energy seen ubiquitously in the uni- (1) Spectral variability of flares and eruptions exists. It is
verse? (3) What are the mechanisms responsible for solar unclear how large it can be from case to case. Precise
variability (that ultimately affects the Earth)? Note that photometric measurements of the solar disk from
similar questions are addressed by less ambitious projects. space, in BB including the continuum spectrum and
The prime scientific goal of the ground-based on-axis at least 1 chromospheric channel are needed to touch
1.5 m GREGOR telescope with adaptive optics (Tenerife, this problem with temporal resolution up to  1 s,
under construction) is high precision measurements of the angular resolution  1 arcsec and better. Stability
solar magnetic field. Magnetic activity of the Sun consid- of the absolute intensity calibration of pixels 0.05%
ered ‘‘to be responsible for the energy balance of the outer and 24 h coverage are demanded for investigation
atmosphere, it causes the activity cycle and the concomi- of long-term variations. The Earth’s atmosphere
tant variability of the solar luminosity and it produces most screen precludes the accurate absolutely calibrated
of the sometimes spectacular visible phenomena, like sun- measurements of them to look at difference images.
spots, prominences, flares and coronal mass ejections” Observations from space are unavoidably needed to
(http://gregor.kis.uni-freiburg.de/). One should comment investigate relevant photospheric and chromospheric
again, that not only magnetic fields per se, but also other processes. There exists an idea, that only several (say,
physically independent parameters mentioned earlier are up to five) strongest lines should be controlled and it
involved and need to be accurately measured for an is practically enough for the sufficiently accurate
understanding of the solar variability at all space–time monitoring of the solar UV radiation. We should
scales. It is clear, that energy budget issues of sunspots remark in this regard, that continuum can also vary
and chromosphere cannot be resolved if based only on and needs measurements of spectral changes. The
these observations. Measurements submitted to atmo- problem can be not oversimplified a priori.
spheric perturbations and no 24 h coverage. (2) Various eruptions on the Sun have different distribu-
Big Bear Solar Observatory New Solar Telescope (NST) tions over the energy channels: plasma kinetic energy,
is the new off-axis 1.6 m solar telescope at the BBSO & heat, accelerated particles, total and spectral electro-
NJIT with adaptive optics (http://www.bbso.njit.edu/new- magnetic radiation. Geometry of events is also highly
telescope/index.html). It is smaller and developed before variable (Veselovsky, 1999; Veselovsky and Panasen-
the ATST (like the GREGOR project). The same com- co, 2006). Various solar flares have different spectra
ments follow as above. of electromagnetic radiation. This point needs spec-
The Chinese Space Solar Telescope with its 1 m aperture troscopic investigations, which were not performed
(Ai et al., 2002) could be used for the suggested WL measure- in a regular manner. The consequence of this spectral
ments if provided by additional registration devices to mea- variability can be important in practice: not all erup-
sure the WL variations with a high and stable accuracy. tions produce ionospheric effects on the Earth. The
SOLIS (Synoptic Optical Long-term Investigations of physics behind this spectral diversification could be
the Sun) is undertaken by National Solar Observatory at similar to the situation met with electric discharges:
Kitt-Peak. It is aimed at providing unique observations the density, composition, temperature, magnetic field,
of the Sun on a continuing basis for several decades using geometry. Nonthermal and accelerated particles and
state-of-the-art techniques. These long-term studies of the many other factors are important and determine the
astronomical object most important to humanity should emitted spectrum of the electric discharge in the lab-
provide fundamental data to understand the solar activity oratory. The same can be said about flares under-
cycle, sudden energy releases in the solar atmosphere, stood as a kind of electric discharges on the Sun:
and solar irradiance changes and their relationship to glo- their characteristics depend on the same physical
bal change (from the presentation of the project at: http:// parameters, which are different for different situations
solis.nso.edu/). Unfortunately, it is a ground-based project on the Sun (height, location, etc.). Different flares
submitted to all perturbations due to the Earth atmosphere could be accompanied (or not) by powerful (weak)
and without a 24 h coverage. Difference imaging should be motions. The demarcation between CME-like and
done at very high speed to beat the seeing, which obviously flare-like eruptive processes can be quantified by the
is not compatible with the high accuracy needed to perform dimensionless number Ve, which is known as ‘the
precise photometric measurements. What is needed, is velocity/emission dimensionless number’ and repre-
SOLIS in Space! sents the ratio of the emitted plasma kinetic energy
The use of optical interferometers in space is promising to the emitted electromagnetic radiation during the
for obtaining a higher spatial resolution with small tele- event. For the measurements of this quantity, one
scopes connected in one optical system (Damé and needs many spectral and plasma characteristics. The
Koutchmy, 2006). proportion between ‘proton flares’ and their optical
I.S. Veselovsky, S. Koutchmy / Advances in Space Research 43 (2009) 995–1000 999

or X-ray class is also not one-to one. Response of the board for the final information extraction and trans-
top-side ionosphere depends on these details and mission of this scientific product. Only some key
needs more investigation in this respect (Dmitriev images should be also transmitted on the Earth for
et al., 2006). the control of the quality of operations. More elabo-
(3) Physical openness degree is not always clear for the rated assessment is needed in this part in future devel-
structures and processes on the Sun. Premature con- opment of suggested ideas of the project. Otherwise,
cepts of ‘primary energy release sites’ in the past we never will know real answers to the posed
leaded to erroneous flare paradigms related to recon- questions.
nection cartoons in closed boxes with a purely inter- (6) We are aimed to tackle two main unsolved problems
nal instability. It is not easy to follow even partially using a full disk instrument. First, more local and
the whole chain of the free energy transformations shorter term open question will be addressed: ‘‘What
between different space and time scales during the are quantitative contributions of different features to
preparation and development phase of eruptive a white light flare?” White light energy and power of
events on the Sun. Direct and inverse energy cascades solar flares will be measured pixel by pixel with better
from larger to smaller sizes and opposite way coexist. spectral/temporal/space resolution than up to now.
We need more observational information about all Second, more global and longer term measurements
sides of these concurrent processes in the open sys- are envisioned for the better understanding of
tem: photosphere-chromosphere-corona under con- another open question: ‘‘What are quantitative con-
trolled boundary conditions for the better model tributions of different pixel elements on the Sun to
representations, which are still lacking. We do not the total solar irradiance and its variations during
know in a sufficient measure all transports inside the cycle?”
and through their imaginary boundaries to evaluate
Trieste numbers, which are dimensionless ratios of
circulating and crossing parts of mass, momentum 5. Discussion
and energy fluxes.
(4) Stark effect measurements are needed for quantitative It is often assumed (not explicitly or even explicitly but
evaluation of electric fields on the Sun. Those mea- without sufficient justifications), that the subphotospheric
surements are difficult because of the low values of dynamics is not essential for the flare and CME initiation
electric fields in comparison with magnetic field inten- and development (spontaneous reconnection models in
sity. Indeed, the factor v/c appears to be small, of the the corona, energy storage and instabilities in the corona
order of 10 3 and even less, in frozen approximation. etc.). We find this approach too restrictive and physically
Selection of the most sensitive and clean lines should not sufficient because of the neglect of the transmission
be done based on estimates of electric dipole through the photosphere and interiors of the Sun of the
moments of transitions. Lines of highly excited ions energy, momentum and mass towards the solar atmosphere
and atoms are best candidates in this respect. Mea- during these processes. Strongest solar flares and coronal
sured values of 5–10 V/cm were reported for erupting mass ejections never happen without preceding and ongo-
protuberances in accordance with the estimates of the ing ‘new magnetic flux emergence’ in the photosphere,
pressure broadening (Foukal et al., 1987). Reliable which is governed by ‘MHD and heat machine’ in interiors
and regular measurements of electric fields on the of the Sun. They are only ‘crests on the top of the breaking
Sun are still absent, though their principal role in ocean wave’ with brightest and most spectacular manifesta-
the solar physics was realized as early as a century tions, big instant power, but lower total energy. These fast
ago (Hale and Babcock, 1915). and short crests are directly driven by slow and large ambi-
(5) With a temporal resolution of 1 s and a pixel size of ent energy sources situated beneath and above the photo-
0.5 arcsec, the amount of data will be very big for a sphere. The approach of ‘closed physical reservoirs’
space telescope. In order to achieve a spatial resolu- should be replaced by open systems. Initial and boundary
tion of 1 arcsec (pixel of 0.5 arcsec) on the full disk, conditions decide the evolution and internal life of selected
a 4000  4000 CCD is necessary, with 2 bytes per reservoirs under consideration. The focus in theories and
pixel for a precise photometry. With a temporal res- observations should be shifted in this direction if we really
olution of 1 s, the output will be 32 MB/s (it could want physical understanding and forecasts.
be reduced by compression). Such a rate is probably It is also often assumed that WL flares on the Sun initi-
not reasonable, so that one has to find some compro- ated by beams of accelerated particles from the corona.
mise between the field of view (full disk, regions) and This explanation meets with difficulties: under the thick-
the temporal resolution: great difficulties exist. Tem- target model assumptions, the electron beam must extend
poral resolution should be as high as possible because down to 15–20 keV, and the energy input to the chromo-
it is not clear up to now, what time scales appear to sphere should occur within the collisional stopping depth
be main contributors to the energy and power. Pro- of these electrons – approximately 2  10-4 g cm 2
grammatic computer solutions should be used on (Fletcher et al., 2007). We suggest that even lower energy
1000 I.S. Veselovsky, S. Koutchmy / Advances in Space Research 43 (2009) 995–1000

suprathermal electrons are involved. Strong flares and coverage are achievable only from space. It is a difficult,
CMEs are initiated and driven by processes coming from but solvable task. Without this information our knowledge
solar interiors, i.e. the photospheric dynamics plays not a will remain essentially incomplete.
secondary and passive, but a primary and active role,
which is observationally documented as ‘new magnetic flux Acknowledgments
emergence’, WL brightening, sub-millimeter radio wave
bursts, electron-positron annihilation line emission and This work was supported by the Grants RFBR 07-02-
deserves more detailed telescopic investigation then was 00147, 06-05-64500, NSh-1255.2008.2 and INTAS 03-51-
done up to now by ground based observations. Accelera- 6202. It is fulfilled also as a part of the Interdisciplinary
tion of suprathermal and more energetic particle can be Program of the Moscow State University and the Programs
observed here. Difference imaging is a potential method of the Russian Academy of Sciences P04 ‘‘Origin and evo-
to be used, similar to the highly successful method used lution of stars and galaxies’’, P16 ‘‘Solar activity and phys-
to visualize CMEs on WL LASCO images. We stress again, ical processes in the Sun-Earth system” and OFN16
that not only magnetic energy (low beta regimes) is impor- ‘‘Plasma processes in the Solar system”. ISV is grateful to
tant, but other types of the free energy involved in the solar the Organizing Committee of the 36th COSPAR Scientific
activity processes. Magnetic activity is only a part of whole Assembly for a travel support.
story in attempts of explanation.
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