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The Global Oscillation at Low Frequencies (GOLF) experiment is a resonant scattering spectrophotometer on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SoHO) mission, originally designed to measure the disk-integrated solar oscillations of the Sun. This instrument was designed in a relative photometric mode involving both wings of the neutral sodium doublet (D 1 at λ 5896 and D 2 at λ 5890 Å). However, a "one-wing" photometric mode has been selected to ensure 100% continuity in the measurements after a problem in the polarization mechanisms. Thus the velocity is obtained from only two points on the same wing of the lines. This operating configuration imposes tighter constraints on the stability of the instrument with a higher sensitivity to instrumental variations. In this paper we discuss the evolution of the instrument during the last 8 years in space and the corrections applied to the measured counting rates due to known instrumental effects. We also describe a scaling procedure to obtain the variation of the Doppler velocity based on our knowledge of the sodium profile slope and we compare it to previous velocity estimations.

The most commonly used index of stellar magnetic activity is the instrumental flux scale of singlyionized calcium H & K line core emission, S, developed by the Mount Wilson Observatory (MWO) HK Project, or the derivative index R HK . Accurately placing the Sun on the S scale is important for comparing solar activity to that of the Sun-like stars. We present previously unpublished measurements of the reflected sunlight from the Moon using the second-generation MWO HK photometer during solar cycle 23 and determine cycle minimum S 23,min = 0.1634 ± 0.0008, amplitude ∆S 23 = 0.0143 ± 0.0012, and mean S 23 = 0.1701 ± 0.0005. By establishing a proxy relationship with the closely related National Solar Observatory Sacramento Peak calcium K emission index, itself well-correlated with the Kodaikanal Observatory plage index, we extend the MWO S time series to cover cycles 15-24 and find on average S min = 0.1621 ± 0.0008, ∆S cyc = 0.0145 ± 0.0012, S cyc = 0.1694 ± 0.0005. Our measurements represent an improvement over previous estimates which relied on stellar measurements or solar proxies with non-overlapping time series. We find good agreement from these results with measurements by the Solar-Stellar Spectrograph at Lowell Observatory, an independently calibrated instrument, which gives us additional confidence that we have accurately placed the Sun on the S-index flux scale.

It is well established that both total and spectral solar irradiance are modulated by variable magnetic activity on the solar surface. However, there is still disagreement about the contribution of individual solar features for changes in the solar output, in particular over decadal time scales. Ionized Ca II K line spectroheliograms are one of the major resources for these long-term trend studies, mainly because such measurements have been available now for more than 100 years. In this paper we introduce a new Ca II K plage and active network index time series derived from the digitization of almost 40 000 photographic solar images that were obtained at the 60-foot solar tower, between 1915 and 1985, as a part of the monitoring program of the Mount Wilson Observatory. We describe here the procedure we applied to calibrate the images and the properties of our new defined index, which is strongly correlated to the average fractional area of the visible solar disk occupied by plages and active network. We show that the long-term variation of this index is in an excellent agreement with the 11-year solar-cycle trend determined from the annual international sunspot numbers series. Our time series agrees also very well with similar indicators derived from a different reduction of the same data base and other Ca II K spectroheliograms long-term synoptic programs, such as those at Kodaikanal Observatory (India), and at the National Solar Observatory at Sacramento Peak (USA). Finally, we show that using appropriate proxies it is possible to extend this time series up to date, making this data set one of the longest Ca II K index series currently available.

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With over 5 years of GOLF data having some 90% continuity, a new attempt has been made to search for possible solar g modes. Statistical methods are used, based on the minimum of assumptions regarding the solar physics; namely that mode line-widths are small compared with the inverse of the observing time, and that modes are sought in the frequency interval 150 to 400 µHz. A number of simulations are carried out in order to understand the expected behaviour of a system consisting principally of a solar noise continuum overlaid with some weak sharp resonances. The method adopted is based on the FFT analysis of a time series with zero-padding by a factor of 5. One prominent resonance at 284.666 µHz coincides with a previous tentative assignment as one member of an n = 1, l = 1, p-mode multiplet. Components of two multiplets, previously tentatively identified as possible g-mode candidates from the GOLF data in 1998, continue to be found, although their statistical significance is shown to be insufficient, within the present assumption regarding the nature of the signal. An upper limit to the amplitude of any g mode present is calculated using two different statistical approaches, according to either the assumed absence (H0 hypothesis) or the assumed presence (H1 hypothesis) of a signal. The former yields a slightly lower limit of around 6 mm/s.

The full-text may be used and/or reproduced, and given to third parties in any format or medium, without prior permission or charge, for personal research or study, educational, or not-for-prot purposes provided that:• a full bibliographic reference is made to the original source • a link is made to the metadata record in DRO • the full-text is not changed in any way The full-text must not be sold in any format or medium without the formal permission of the copyright holders.Please consult the full DRO policy for further details. ABSTRACTAims. We aim to use the surface flux transport model to simulate the long-term evolution of the photospheric magnetic field from historical observations. In this work we study the accuracy of the model and its sensitivity to uncertainties in its main parameters and the input data. Methods. We tested the model by running simulations with different values of meridional circulation and supergranular diffusion parameters, and studied how the flux distribution inside active regions and the initial magnetic field affected the simulation. We compared the results to assess how sensitive the simulation is to uncertainties in meridional circulation speed, supergranular diffusion, and input data. We also compared the simulated magnetic field with observations. Results. We find that there is generally good agreement between simulations and observations. Although the model is not capable of replicating fine details of the magnetic field, the long-term evolution of the polar field is very similar in simulations and observations. Simulations typically yield a smoother evolution of polar fields than observations, which often include artificial variations due to observational limitations. We also find that the simulated field is fairly insensitive to uncertainties in model parameters or the input data. Due to the decay term included in the model the effects of the uncertainties are somewhat minor or temporary, lasting typically one solar cycle.

This study based on longitudinal Zeeman effect magnetograms and spectral line scans investigates the dependence of solar surface magnetic fields on the spectral line used and the way the line is sampled in order to estimate the magnetic flux emerging above the solar atmosphere and penetrating to the corona from magnetograms of the Mt. Wilson 150-foot tower synoptic program (MWO). We have compared the synoptic program \lambda5250\AA line of Fe I to the line of Fe I at \lambda5233\AA since this latter line has a broad shape with a profile that is nearly linear over a large portion of its wings. The present study uses five pairs of sampling points on the $\lambda5233$\AA line. We recommend adoption of the field determined with a line bisector method with a sampling point as close as possible to the line core as the best estimate of the emergent photospheric flux. The combination of the line profile measurements and the cross-correlation of fields measured simultaneously with \lambda5250\AA and \lambda5233\AA yields a formula for the scale factor 1/\delta that multiplies the MWO synoptic magnetic fields. The new calibration shows that magnetic fields measured by the MDI system on the SOHO spacecraft are equal to 0.619+/-0.018 times the true value at a center-to-limb position 30 deg. Berger and Lites (2003) found this factor to be 0.64+/-0.013 based on a comparison the the Advanced Stokes Polarimeter.Comment: Accepted by Solar Physic