Long-Term Solar Variability Studies with a Unique Solar Synoptic Archive

该项目是继成功获得NSF-RAPID奖之后的又一个项目，该项目将通过1964年的麦金托什地图和1955-1964年的Kodaikonal太阳天文台的天气图，对太阳磁特征图进行存档，将提供涵盖5个太阳周期的综合图。这些档案将通过NOAA的国家环境信息中心（NCEI）存档服务提供给研究人员，以确保它们得到保存。美国国家海洋和大气管理局的空间天气预报中心生成麦金托什地图，因此档案是高度相关和不断增长的。这种独特的档案提供了全球太阳场演变的一致和长期的观点，是提高太阳活动周期预测能力的重要工具。通过IDL程序将这些地图数字化，并从输入的FITS文件中绘制图形。迄今为止，第23太阳活动周期（1996-2009）的地图已经处理完毕。1964年至1996年的麦金托什地图将与1955年至1964年的H-alpha天气图一起被数字化。这些是由柯达柯达太阳天文台按照帕特·麦金托什在1964年开始他的测绘工作之前制定的程序制作的。这些地图包含了大量的太阳磁场特征信息，包括极冕细丝，日冕洞和空洞，以及活动区域。这些长期信息对于太阳周期和发电机研究人员来说非常重要，他们长期研究太阳气候。

This project is a follow on to a successful NSF-RAPID award that will carry on an archiving of solar magnetic features maps through McIntosh Maps dating back to 1964 and inclusion of synoptic charts from 1955-1964 from the Kodaikonal Solar Observatory, will provide a comprehensive set covering 5 solar cycles. This archive will be available to researchers via the NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI) archiving service ensuring they will be preserved. NOAA's Space Weather Prediction Center generates McIntosh Maps, thus the archive is highly relevant and growing. This unique archive provide a consistent and long term view of the evolution of the global solar field and is an important tool for improving predictive capabilities of solar activity cycles. The maps are digitized through an IDL program with makes plots from input FITS files. To date, maps for solar cycle 23 (1996-2009) have been processed. The McIntosh maps from 1964-1996 will be digitized along with H-alpha synoptic charts from (1955-1964). These were produced by at the Kodaikonal Solar Observatory following procedures laid out by Pat McIntosh before he began his mapping efforts in 1964. These maps contain information on a multitude of solar magnetic features including polar crown filaments, coronal holes and cavities, as well as active regions. This long term information is very important for solar cycle and dynamo researchers who do long term studies of solar climate.