Context. Ground-based imaging and imaging spectropolarimetric data are often subjected to post-facto reconstruction techniques to improve the spatial resolution. Aims. We test the effects of reconstruction techniques on two-dimensional data to determine the best approach to improve our data. Methods. We obtained an 1-h time-series of spectropolarimetric data in the Fe i line at 630.25 nm with the Göttingen Fabry-Pérot Interferometer (FPI) that are accompanied by imaging data in the blue continuum at 431.3 nm and Ca ii H at 396.85 nm. We apply both speckle and (multi-object) multi-frame blind deconvolution ((MO)MFBD) techniques. We use the "Göttingen" speckle and speckle deconvolution codes and the MOMFBD code in the implementation of Van Noort et al. (2005). We compare the resulting spatial resolution and investigate the impact of the image reconstruction on spectral characteristics of the Göttingen FPI data. Results. The speckle reconstruction and MFBD perform similar for our imaging data with nearly identical intensity contrasts. MFBD provides a better and more homogeneous spatial resolution at the shortest wavelength when applied to a series of image bursts. The MOMFBD and speckle deconvolution of the intensity spectra lead to similar results, but our choice of settings for the MOMFBD yields an intensity contrast smaller by about 2% at a comparable spatial resolution. None of the reconstruction techniques introduces significant artifacts in the intensity spectra. The speckle deconvolution (MOMFBD) has a rms noise in Stokes V/I of 0.32% (0.20%). The deconvolved spectra thus require a high significance threshold of about 1.0% to separate noise peaks from true signal. A comparison to spectra with a significantly higher signal-to-noise (S/N) ratio and to spectra from a magneto-hydrodynamical simulation reveals that the Göttingen FPI can only detect about 30% of the polarization signal present in quiet Sun areas. The distribution of NCP values for the speckle-deconvolved data matches that of observations with higher S/N better than MOMFBD, but shows seemingly artificially sharp boundaries and unexpected changes of the sign. Conclusions. For our imaging data, both MFBD and speckle reconstruction are equivalent, with a slightly better and more stable performance of MFBD. For the spectropolarimetric data, the higher intensity contrast of the speckle deconvolution is balanced by the smaller amplification of the noise level in the MOMFBD at a comparable spatial resolution. The noise level prevents the detection of weak and diffuse magnetic fields. Future efforts should be directed to improve the S/N of the Göttingen FPI spectra for spectropolarimetric observations to lower the final significance thresholds.

Context. The energy source powering the solar chromosphere is still undetermined, but leaves its traces in observed intensities. Aims. We investigate the statistics of the intensity distributions as a function of the wavelength for Ca ii H and the Ca ii IR line at 854.2 nm to estimate the energy content in the observed intensity fluctuations. Methods. We derived the intensity variations at different heights of the solar atmosphere, as traced by the line wings and line cores of the two spectral lines. We converted the observed intensities to absolute energy units employing reference profiles calculated in non-local thermal equilibrium (NLTE). We also converted the intensity fluctuations to corresponding brightness temperatures assuming LTE. Results. The root-mean-square (rms) fluctuations of the emitted intensity are about 0.6 (1.2) W m −2 ster −1 pm −1 near the core of the Ca ii IR line at 854.2 nm (Ca ii H), corresponding to relative intensity fluctuations of about 20% (30%). For the line wing, we find rms values of about 0.3 W m −2 ster −1 pm −1 for both lines, corresponding to relative fluctuations below 5%. The relative rms values show a local minimum for wavelengths forming at a height of about 130 km, but otherwise increase smoothly from the wing to the core, i.e., from photosphere to chromosphere. The corresponding rms brightness temperature fluctuations are below 100 K for the photosphere and up to 500 K in the chromosphere. The skewness of the intensity distributions is close to zero in the outer line wing and positive throughout the rest of the line spectrum, owing to the frequent occurrence of high-intensity events. The skewness shows a pronounced local maximum at locations with photospheric magnetic fields for wavelengths in-between those of the line wing and the line core (z ≈ 150−300 km), and a global maximum at the very core (z ≈ 1000 km) for both magnetic and field-free locations. Conclusions. The energy content of the intensity fluctuations is insufficient to create a chromospheric temperature rise that would be similar to the one in most reference models of the solar atmosphere. The increase in the rms fluctuations with height indicates the presence of upwardly propagating acoustic waves of increasing oscillation amplitude. The intensity and temperature variations indicate that there is a clear increase in dynamical activity from photosphere towards the chromosphere, but the variations fall short of the magnitude predicted by fully dynamical chromospheric models by a factor of about five. The enhanced skewness between the photosphere and lower solar chromosphere at magnetic locations is indicative of a mechanism that acts solely on magnetized plasma.