1. FIP BIAS EVOLUTION IN A DECAYING ACTIVE REGION
- Author
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D. H. Brooks, David Long, Lucie M. Green, L. van Driel-Gesztelyi, Pascal Démoulin, Stephanie L. Yardley, Daniel N. Baker, University College of London [London] (UCL), Laboratoire d'études spatiales et d'instrumentation en astrophysique (LESIA), Université Pierre et Marie Curie - Paris 6 (UPMC)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Observatoire de Paris, and Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris sciences et lettres (PSL)-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
- Subjects
[PHYS]Physics [physics] ,Physics ,Photosphere ,010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences ,Spatially resolved ,Plasma composition ,FOS: Physical sciences ,Astronomy and Astrophysics ,Astrophysics ,Plasma ,01 natural sciences ,Spectral line ,Magnetic field ,Solar wind ,Astrophysics - Solar and Stellar Astrophysics ,13. Climate action ,Space and Planetary Science ,0103 physical sciences ,Emission spectrum ,[PHYS.ASTR]Physics [physics]/Astrophysics [astro-ph] ,010303 astronomy & astrophysics ,Solar and Stellar Astrophysics (astro-ph.SR) ,ComputingMilieux_MISCELLANEOUS ,0105 earth and related environmental sciences - Abstract
Solar coronal plasma composition is typically characterized by first ionization potential (FIP) bias. Using spectra obtained by Hinode's EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS) instrument, we present a series of large-scale, spatially resolved composition maps of active region (AR) 11389. The composition maps show how FIP bias evolves within the decaying AR from 2012 January 4-6. Globally, FIP bias decreases throughout the AR. We analyzed areas of significant plasma composition changes within the decaying AR and found that small-scale evolution in the photospheric magnetic field is closely linked to the FIP bias evolution observed in the corona. During the AR's decay phase, small bipoles emerging within supergranular cells reconnect with the pre-existing AR field, creating a pathway along which photospheric and coronal plasmas can mix. The mixing time scales are shorter than those of plasma enrichment processes. Eruptive activity also results in shifting the FIP bias closer to photospheric in the affected areas. Finally, the FIP bias still remains dominantly coronal only in a part of the AR's high-flux density core. We conclude that in the decay phase of an AR's lifetime, the FIP bias is becoming increasingly modulated by episodes of small-scale flux emergence, i.e. decreasing the AR's overall FIP bias. Our results show that magnetic field evolution plays an important role in compositional changes during AR development, revealing a more complex relationship than expected from previous well-known Skylab results showing that FIP bias increases almost linearly with age in young ARs (Widing $\&$ Feldman, 2001, ApJ, 555, 426).
- Published
- 2015
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