Collaborative Research: Exploring the Thermodynamics of the Corona With Total Solar Eclipse Observations

主要研究人员（pi）将通过利用多波长光谱和偏振成像来观测即将到来的2012年（在澳大利亚北部看到）和2013年（在西非看到）的日食。这些日食观测的目标是利用许多日冕禁止发射线的诊断特性来推断电子温度、离子密度、丰度和电荷状态，以及日冕磁场的特性，同时应用最先进的图像处理技术。拟议的观测将扩展PI的日食数据库，几乎涵盖整个太阳活动周期。pi解释说，他们计划测量的光谱发射线将能够明确地研究日冕密度结构的演化轨迹，从碰撞主导的等离子体到弱碰撞等离子体的转变，在行星际空间中观察到的离子荷态已经建立，以及日冕中从封闭到开放的磁场线的转变。这些数据对于模拟和建模日冕等离子体的膨胀、控制太阳风加热和加速的物理过程以及太阳磁场的演变至关重要。pi是女性科学家，她们将指导研究生和本科生，研究生参与日食探险，本科生通过暑期项目参与研究。专业人员将编制教育材料，供本科生和研究生使用，并用于公众宣传。研究结果将通过在会议上的发言和经评审的科学出版物向研究界传播，并将用于规划下一代日冕观测工具的仪器开发。

The Principal Investigators (PIs) will observe the upcoming solar eclipses of 2012 (to be seen in northern Australia) and 2013 (to be seen in west Africa) by exploiting multi-wavelength spectral and polarimetric imaging. The goal of these solar eclipse observations is to capitalize on the diagnostic properties of many coronal forbidden emission lines in order to infer electron temperatures, ion densities, abundances, and charge states, as well as the properties of the coronal magnetic field, while applying state-of-the-art image processing techniques. The proposed observations will extend the PI's eclipse data base to span almost a full solar activity cycle. The PIs explain that the spectral emission lines they plan to measure will enable an unambiguous study of the evolutionary track of coronal density structures, of the transition from a collision-dominated plasma to a weakly-collisional plasma where the ion charge states observed in interplanetary space are established, and of the transition from closed to open magnetic field lines in the corona. These data are essential for simulation and modeling of the expansion of the coronal plasma, the physical processes that control the heating and acceleration of the solar wind, and the evolution of the solar magnetic field. The PIs are female scientists who will mentor graduate and undergraduate students, with graduate students participating in the eclipse expeditions and with undergraduates being introduced to research through summer projects. The PIs will develop educational material to be used at both the undergraduate and graduate level, as well as for public outreach. Results will be disseminated to the research community through presentations at conferences and through refereed scientific publications, where it it will be used to help plan instrument development for the next generation of solar corona observing tools.