Magnetic fields are the dominant energy source for heating the Sun’s corona and for producing energetic solar activity such as flares and coronal mass ejections. Solar magnetic fields are also the dominant factor in structuring the coronal plasma and in shaping the heliosphere that encompasses the Earth and the other planets. Over the past three decades, remote-sensing observations of the vector magnetic field in the solar photosphere have become routine. Direct diagnostics of coronal magnetic fields, however, are still in their infancy and remain technically challenging. Nevertheless, driven by advances in instrumentation and by society’s need to understand and predict coronal processes, it is anticipated that rapid growth in coronal magnetic-field diagnostics will be made in the next decade.
This Topical Issue of Solar Physics is devoted to the nascent field of coronal magnetometry. Most contributed articles were first presented at the “Workshop on Coronal Magnetism – Connecting Models to Data and the Corona to the Earth”, which was held 21 – 23 May 2012 in Boulder, Colorado, USA ( www.hao.ucar.edu/CoronalMagnetismWorkshop/ ). The purpose of the workshop was to foster the development of tools to interpret current and future measurements of coronal magnetic fields. The Coronal Multi-channel Polarimeter (Tomczyk et al. 2001) instrument is now obtaining routine observations of coronal polarization, and improved measurements are on the horizon in the visible to IR spectral regions with the construction of the Advanced Technology Solar Telescope (Keil et al. 2003). At radio wavelengths the upgrade of the Owens Valley Solar Array (Gary and Hurford 1994) and the construction of the Chinese Spectral Radioheliograph (Yan et al. 2009) will open access to a variety of powerful diagnostics that are complementary to those at IR wavelengths. In addition, the Frequency Agile Solar Radiotelescope (Bastian 2003) and the Coronal Solar Magnetism Observatory ( www.cosmo.ucar.edu/ ) were recently recommended by the US National Research Council Solar and Space Physics Decadal Survey (Baker and Zurbuchen 2013) which promise comprehensive and routine measurements of coronal magnetic fields and plasma.
Following the scientific organization of the workshop, this Topical Issue covers the following subjects:
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i)
Techniques for measuring coronal magnetism from UV to radio wavelengths.
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ii)
Instruments and facilities to observe coronal magnetism.
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iii)
Forward and inverse modeling of the observed signatures of coronal magnetism.
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iv)
Extrapolations of photospheric magnetic fields into the corona.
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v)
The role of coronal magnetism in solar activity, space weather, and space climate.
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Acknowledgements
The organizers gratefully acknowledge support for this meeting from the US National Science Foundation through base funding of NCAR/HAO and thank HAO Director Michael Thompson for his support. The members of the Scientific Organizing Committee of the workshop were Tim Bastian, Marc DeRosa, Haosheng Lin, Vic Pizzo, Steven Tomczyk, Brian Welsch, and Jie Zhang.
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Coronal Magnetometry
Guest Editors: S. Tomczyk, J. Zhang, and T.S. Bastian
Articles
Articles
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Tomczyk, S., Zhang, J., Bastian, T., Leibacher, J.W.: 2013, Coronal Magnetic Fields: Preface. Solar Phys. 288, 463. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0432-3 .
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Judge, P.J., Habbal, S., Landi, E.: 2013, From Forbidden Coronal Lines to Meaningful Coronal Magnetic Fields. Solar Phys. 288, 467. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0309-5 .
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Régnier, S.: 2013, Magnetic Field Extrapolations into the Corona: Success and Future Improvements. Solar Phys. 288, 481. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0367-8 .
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Wang, R., Yan, Y, Tan, B.: 2013, Three-Dimensional Nonlinear Force-Free Field Reconstruction of Solar Active Region 11158 by Direct Boundary Integral Equation. Solar Phys. 288, 507. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0422-5 .
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Peter, H.: 2013, Magnetic Field Diagnostics and Spatio-Temporal Variability of the Solar Transition Region. Solar Phys. 288, 531. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0270-3 .
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Gary, D.E., Fleishman, G D., Nita, G.M.: 2013, Magnetography of Solar Flaring Loops with Microwave Imaging Spectropolarimetry. Solar Phys. 288, 549. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0299-3 .
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Long, D.M., Williams, D.R., Régnier, S., Harra, L.K.: 2013, Measuring the Magnetic-Field Strength of the Quiet Solar Corona Using “EIT Waves”. Solar Phys. 288, 567. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0331-7 .
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Shen, Y.D.: 2013, Observations of a Quasi-periodic, Fast-Propagating Magnetosonic Wave in Multiple Wavelengths and Its Interaction with Other Magnetic Structures. Solar Phys. 288, 585. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0395-4 .
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Forland, B.C., Gibson, S.E., Dove, J.B., Rachmeler, L.A., Fan Y.: 2013, Coronal Cavity Survey: Morphological Clues to Eruptive Magnetic Topologies. Solar Phys. 288, 603. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0361-1 .
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Rachmeler, L.A., Gibson, S.E., Dove, J.B., DeVore, C.R., Fan, Y.: 2013, Polarimetric Properties of Flux Ropes and Sheared Arcades in Coronal Prominence Cavities. Solar Phys. 288, 617. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0325-5 .
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Tian, H., Tomczyk, S., McIntosh, S.W., Bethge, C., de Toma, G., Gibson, S.: 2013, Observations of Coronal Mass Ejections with the Coronal Multichannel Polarimeter. Solar Phys. 288, 637. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0317-5 .
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Kim, I., Alexeeva, I.V., Bugaenko, O.I., Popov, V.V., Suyunova E.Z.: 2013, Comments on Near-Limb Zeeman and Hanle Diagnostics. Solar Phys. 288, 651. doi: 10.1007/s11207-013-0419-0 .
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Tomczyk, S., Zhang, J., Bastian, T. et al. Preface. Sol Phys 288, 463–465 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-013-0432-3
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-013-0432-3