RAPID: Preserving a Unique Archive for Long-Term Solar Variability Studies

这是一项短期(为期一年)的努力，目的是保存和数字化一套手绘的图表，这些图表可以追溯到40多年前从太阳的氢-阿尔法图像中识别出的太阳特征。它们于1964年被定义为一种识别和跟踪太阳表面主要磁结构及其演化的手段。这是在现代测量太阳磁力的常规方法出现之前。它们在2010年持续不断地产生，形成了关于太阳磁场和表面演化的重要发现的基础。然而，这一宝贵的资源现在面临着丢失的危险，因为负责人和他的两名助手已经退休，他们曾接受过他的培训，并与他一起在地图上工作。他们是唯一对图表背后的技术有深入了解的人。此外，虽然许多原始数据集已经保存在他们的家中，但没有以其他方式以副本或数字形式保存。这一快速奖励的主要目的是确保使用一致的、机器可读的格式组织、扫描和数字处理整个海图集，从而创建一个易于访问的数据集，可在未来几年内科学地使用。这两名助理将与太阳物理学科学家和科学数据扫描、数字处理和数据存档方面的专家协作，开展大部分工作。最终的数字化、可搜索地图将在NOAA的国家地球物理数据中心存档。这套天气图构成了关于四个太阳周期期间大尺度太阳特征演变的独特和重要的观测资料。一旦数字化，它们就可以用来测量呈现特定现象的太阳表面的比例，以及这些特征作为纬度和经度的函数的位置(由像素位置定义)。然后，这些数据可以用来评估比例及其随时间的变化。这将提供极其有用的信息，可用于测试理论和模型，以预测太阳在单个周期或多个周期内的整体活动。这也将有助于丰富关于太阳特定特征的其他研究，如细丝、冕洞或斑点区域，以及它们在数量、位置或运动方面随时间的变化。

This is a short-term (one-year) effort to preserve and digitize a set of hand-drawn charts going back more than 40 years of solar features identified from Hydrogen-alpha images of the Sun. They were defined in 1964 as a means to identify and track major magnetic structures on the surface of the Sun and their evolution. This was before modern measurements of solar magnetism were routinely available. They were produced consistently and continually through 2010 and have formed the basis for important discoveries about solar magnetic field and surface evolution. However, this valuable resource is now in imminent danger of being lost because the scientist in charge and his two assistants, who were trained by him and worked with him on the maps, have retired. They are the only people with intimate knowledge of the technique behind the charts. Furthermore, while much of the original data set has been saved in their homes, is has not otherwise been preserved in copies or in digital form. Nor is it protected from loss through flooding, fire, etc. The main purpose of this RAPID award is to ensure that the entire set of charts is organized, scanned and digitally processed using a consistent, machine-readable format, thus creating a readily accessible dataset that can be utilized scientifically for years to come. The two assistants will carry out the majority of the effort, in collaboration with solar physics scientist and experts in the scanning, digital processing and data archiving of scientific data. The final digitized, searchable maps will be archived at NOAA's National Geophysical Data Center. This set of synoptic maps constitutes a unique and significant observational resource on the evolution of large-scale solar features over the course of four solar cycles. Once digitized, they can be used to measure the proportions of the solar surface exhibiting specific phenomena, and the locations of these features as a function of latitude and longitude (as defined by pixel location). The data can then be used to evaluate the proportions and their changes over time. This will provide extremely useful information that can be used to test theories and models for predicting the Sun's activity as a whole over a single cycle or over numerous cycles. It will also be useful for a wealth of other studies concerning specific features at the Sun, such as filaments, coronal holes or plage regions, as well as their variations over time in terms of quantity, location or movement.