• ReleaseNotes

Release Notes for HMI Vector Magnetic Field Data Files for AR 11158

This page describes the data files being released for AR 11158 and provides information about how to use them. For more information about the way the data have been computed and the uncertainties in them, please refer to VectorPaper.

Update: This and additional beta-test data processed in the same way for other regions is described a ReleaseNotes2. That data is available via the standard JSOC data interface.

We have computed a 5-day time series of 12-minute cadence disambiguated vector magnetic field and associated quantities.

• Data are provided as either CCD cut-outs or as remapped and projected values.
• There are also one-per-day samples in the same formats.
• Movies show summaries of the vector data and provide context information.

• Please make use of this Practical Guide for reading Rice-compressed HMI Vector Magnetograms and interpreting geometry information.

Description of Vector Field Cut-outs - ''hmi_test.B_720s_cutout''

This data series is in the original CCD coordinate system, virtually 'cut out' of the original full disk images. It is most appropriate for those who want to compare with other disk images and reconstruct the heliographic geometry themselves.

• A single ~900 MB tar file is provided for each of the 5 days from February 12 - 16, 2011.
• Each tar file contains 120 sets of 10 FITS files (1220 files), one set for each 12-minute interval of the day.
• Also included are 5 summary files:

  • The three index.* files list the contents of the directory

  • The JSOC_*.drmsrun and JSOC_*.qsub files give information about the export processing of the data series.

• ClickHereForDataRelease

• The names of the FITS data files indicate the data series (hmi_test.B_720s_cutout), an HMI region code (1984), time, and data quantity.
• An example of a file name is
  • hmi_test.B_720s_cutout.1984.20110212_000000_TAI.azimuth.fits
  • where hmi_test.B_720s_cutout is the series name, 1984 is the region number, 20110212_000000_TAI is the center time of the observation, and azimuth is the data quantity in that fits file.
• Each cut out is 650 * 600 pixels.
• Pixels that are not inverted are NANs.
• The files are RICE compressed.
• Each file contains keywords that provide geometry and other necessary information (described below).

  • A sample compressed cutout file has these keyword values

• There are ten individual data and error quantity maps.
  • The three field components are:

    • field is the total average field strength for the pixel measured in Gauss.

    • inclination is the angle of the field vector relative to the line of sight in degrees from 0-180.

    • azimuth is angle of the field vector relative to 'up' on the CCD measured counterclockwise in degrees from 0-360, i.e. a values of 0 is nearly solar south at disk center.

  • The computed uncertainties of the individual components are given in:

    • field_err

    • azimuth_err

    • inclination_err

  • The correlation coefficients between the three components are given in files with combined names:

    • field_az_err

    • field_inclination_err

    • inclin_azimuth_err

  • The Information map gives information about the results of each processing step. See Info_Map for details.

    • info_map contains 32-bit integers providing encoded information for each pixel:

      • Bits 28-31 - The Stokes vector computation
      • Bits 24-27 - The VFISV inversion results
      • Bits 0-7 - The disambiguation results (bits 0-7).
• KEYWORDS - Keywords in each FITS file provide information about the data.

  • Annotated list of HMI_B Cutout Keywords from JSOC data series

  • Annotated list of ME Inversion Keywords from JSOC data series

  • General information about JSOC Keywords

  • Standard HMI WCS Coordinates

  • See also the Practical Guide for HMI Vector Field Data.

Description of CEA Projected and Remapped Vector Magnetic Field - ''hmi_test.B_720s_CEA''

The active region is mapped using a Lambert Cylindrical Equal Area Projection centered on the midpoint of the active region tracked at the Carrington rotation rate for the duration of the data series. This data series is most appropriate for those who wish to do modeling in a uniform geometry.

• A single ~650 MB tar file is provided for each of the 5 days from February 12 - 16, 2011.
• Each tar file contains 120 sets of 7 FITS files (840 files), one set for each 12-minute interval of the day.
• Also included are 5 summary files:

  • The three index.* files list the contents of the directory

  • The JSOC_*.drmsrun and JSOC_*.qsub files give information about the export processing of the data series.

• ClickHereForDataRelease

• The names of the FITS data files indicate the data series (hmi_test.B_720s_CEA), an HMI region code (1984), the time, and the data quantity.
• An example of a file name is
  • hmi_test.B_720s_CEA.1984.20110212_000000_TAI.Br.fits
  • where hmi_test.B_720s_CEA is the series name, 1984 is the region number, 20110212_000000_TAI is the center time of the observation, and Br is the data quantity in that fits file.
• Each map is 600 * 600 pixels, in equal 0.03 degree steps relative to the center pixel.
• Pixels that are not inverted are NANs.
• The files are RICE compressed.
• Each file contains keywords that provide geometry and other necessary information (described below).

  • A sample compressed cutout file has these keyword values

• There are six individual data and error quantity maps.
  • The three field field components are measured in Mx/cm^2 or Gauss.
    • Br - the magnitude of the radial field component, positive is out of the solar surface.
    • Bt - the magnitude of the theta (southward) component of the field.
    • Bp - the magnitude of the phi (westward) component of the field.
  • The three computed error estimates (also in Gauss). Errors in the CEA projection are those of the nearest pixel before re-mapping.
    • Br_err - the error in the radial component of the field
    • Bt_err - the error in the theta component of the field
    • Bp_err - the error in the phi component of the field

  • The Information map gives information about the results of each processing step. See Info_Map for details. Note, as above for CEA the value is for the nearest original pixel before the remap.

    • info_map contains 32-bit integers providing encoded information for each pixel:

      • Bits 28-31 - The Stokes vector computation
      • Bits 24-27 - The VFISV inversion results
      • Bits 0-7 - The disambiguation results (bits 0-7).
• KEYWORDS - Keywords in each FITS file provide information about the data.

  • Annotated list of HMI_B Cutout Keywords from JSOC data series

  • Annotated list of ME Inversion Keywords from JSOC data series

  • General information about JSOC Keywords

  • Standard HMI WCS Coordinates

  • See also the Practical Guide for HMI Vector Field Data.

Sample Data

For those interested in surveying the data, we have provided smaller (~30MB) sample files that have data for just five times, 00:00 TAI on each of the five days. The format of each data series is the same as that described above, except that there is just one tar file for the entire data set. There is a file for the cut-out projection and another for the CEA projection. For each of the five 0:00 TAI times the cut-out tar file contains 10 fits files with the computed quantities outlined above. The CEA tar file contain for each time the same six fits files described above.

The sample.png file shows the intensity, radial component of the cut-out, and vector map of the CEA projection at each time.

• ClickHereForDataRelease

Summary and Context Movies

• Intensity + Blos

  Full Disk 1-16 Feb (HARP 0883)

  Full Disk 16-28 Feb

• Br Cutout Movie

  • The Br Cutout Movie shows the polarity of the radial field in black (inward) and white (outward). The color table saturates and a contour is drawn at the 600 G level. The cut-outs are in native CCD coordinates on a fixed 600 by 600 grid. The center pixel is the one nearest a point tracked at the Carrington rate, but of course some jitter remains. The HMI CCD is rotated such that solar north points very nearly to the bottom of the frame. Toward the end of the movie a dark region appears at the edge of the frames where data were not inverted. Each frame is labeled with the UT time. Note the 20s offset due to the use of TAI time in the original data series.

• Vector Field Movie

  • The Vector Field Movie shows the radial field in black (negative) and white (positive) with a contour at 600 G. The transverse component is shown by small vectors whose length is related to strength and whose color depends on the radial field direction (blue = positive, red = negative). Vectors are shown only when the transverse field is greater than 200 G. These data have been remapped and interpolated at high resolution onto a cylindrical equal area Lambert projection centered at a fixed point at the center of the region that is tracked at the Carrington rate. The vector field components have been transformed to Br, Btheta and Bphi. The UT time is shown for each frame.

• Hedgehog Movies

  • surface_vectorline.mpg (size : 960 x 540)
  • surface_vectorline_large.mpg (large, 1920 x 1080)
  • surface_vectorline_east.mpg (east half of the AR, 960 x 540)
  • surface_vectorline_west.mpg (west half of the AR, 960 x 540)
  • These movies provide a three-dimensional perspective of the temporal evolution of the solar surface vector magnetic field observed by the HMI. The 3-component vector is converted to heliocentric spherical coordinates. The movie is made using the 600 12-minute cadence HMI vector data frames spanning the selected 5-day period from 2011 Feb. 12 0:00 UT to 16 23:48UT.
  • In the first part of the movie, the perspective, or view point, moves from above to a selected point we think best for viewing the X-flare active region; the azimuth and inclination from the local radial direction are 25 degrees counter-clockwise and 45 degrees, respectively.
  • After 9 still frames, the movie starts showing the temporal evolution of the solar-surface magnetic field vector with rate of one frame per one 12-min observation cadence, viewed from the point fixed in the planar coordinate frame.
  • The false color on the plane shows the radial component of the vector magnetic field, and the blue and red represent the positive (outward) and negative values of Br, respectively. The color is controlled by a modified color table function, |B| / (sqrt(|B|) + 50), giving preference to the weak field regime.
  • The brown lines show the field vector direction and strength. The length of each line is proportional to square root of the strength. Only lines starting from pixels with field strength greater than 200 Gauss are drawn. The color of each line changes gradually from bright yellow to dark brown as distance from the foot point increases.
  • In the left bottom corner the solar north/south direction is indicated by the compass-like red/blue triangle. The small cyan mark rotating clockwise around the circle frame of the compass indicates the observation time (0UT at top and 12UT at the bottom). The date and time are at the top right corner.

• Intensity and Blos

  • The side-by-side frames show the continuum intensity (corrected for limb darkening) in shades of yellow, orange, and black on the left and the line-of-sight component of the magnetic field in black and white on the right. These are cut outs of the field rotated to place north at the top of the frame. The tracking is at the Carrington rate and some jitter remains due to rounding. The time of each frame is indicated.

• Tracked Patches

  • Two movies show the full disk magnetic field evolution during the first and second halves of the month of February. The colored regions are HMI Active Region Patches (HARPs) identified and tracked automatically from one image to the next. Each HARP is assigned a number (shown on the right) and color coded for ease of identification. Active pixels above a threshold are shown in black and the pixels inside the colored blobs show the instantaneous HARP boundary. The rectangular box around each region encloses the blob. The gray areas suggest how the region is changing in time. The northern and southern HARP numbers are indicated at the top and bottom right. Regions with a + near the center are numbered NOAA active regions and the NOAA numbers are shown on the right, near the HARP numbers. The + shows the NOAA-provided location and the NOAA numbers are listed from from left to right in the appropriate hemisphere. AR 11158 is the orange region labeled as HARP 883 in the southern hemisphere that crosses central meridian on February 14.

Description of Spaceweather HMI Active Region Patches, or SHARPs

Spaceweather HMI Active Region Patches -- SHARPs

We present a new data product called Spaceweather HMI Active Region Patches, or SHARPs. SHARPs are created as follows: The HMI pipeline analysis code automatically detects active regions in the photospheric line-of-sight magnetograms and photograms. This code identifies a patch on the full-disk imagery that encompasses each active region, and then tracks every active region as it crosses the face of the disk. The vector magnetic field is determined for each patch and is available as a time series of FITS files. Many spaceweather quantities are calculated per patch after the data are remapped via Lambert equal-area azimuthal projection. The following keywords are in the SHARP series:

Keywords:

• Keyword:T_REC, "Slot time"

• Keyword:CADENCE, "Repetition interval in seconds"

• Keyword:HARPNUM, "HARP ID"

• Keyword:PROJECTION, "Projection method"

• Keyword:USFLUX, "Total unsigned flux in Maxwells"

• Keyword:MEANGAM, "Mean inclination angle, gamma, in degrees"

• Keyword:MEANGBT, "Mean value of the total field gradient in Gauss/Mm"

• Keyword:MEANGBZ, "Mean value of the vertical field gradient in Gauss/Mm"

• Keyword:MEANGBH, "Mean value of the horizontal field gradient in Gauss/Mm"

• Keyword:MEANJZD, "Mean vertical current density in mA/(m^2)"

• Keyword:TOTUSJZ, "Total unsigned vertical current in Amperes"

• Keyword:MEANALP, "Mean twist parameter, alpha, in 1/Mm"

• Keyword:MEANJZH, "Mean current helicity in (G^2)/m"

• Keyword:TOTUSJH, "Total unsigned current helicity in (G^2)/m"

• Keyword:ABSNJZH, "Absolute value of the net current helicity in (G^2)/m"

• Keyword:SAVNCPP, "Sum of the Absolute Value of the Net Currents Per Polarity (SAVNCPP) in Amperes"

• Keyword:MEANPOT, "Mean photospheric excess magnetic energy density in Ergs per cubic centimeter"

• Keyword:TOTPOT, "Total photospheric magnetic energy density ergs per cubic centimeter"

• Keyword:MEANSHR, "Mean shear angle for B_total in degrees"

• Keyword:SHRGT45, "Area with shear angle greater than 45 for B_total in units of the percentage of the total"

The HARPs are contained as DRMS linked semgents:

• "Data segment: Bx"
• "Data segment: By"
• "Data segment: Bz"

Additional Resources

• If you have trouble reading Rice compressed FITS files on your Mac, check here for a guide to compiling fitsio.so

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