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Polar magnetic field, as a component produced by the global dynamo, is thought to be the remant of toroidal magnetic field transported poleward from Sun’s active belt. With the improvement of instruments, more and more observations are challenging the viewpoint. Recently, we identify the bipolar magnetic emergences (BMEs) in the polar region, and find that the distribution of the magnetic axes for these BMEs shows random state, which does not follow the Joy’s law of active region. The result implies the possible existence of local dynamo in the solar polar region.

Coronal waves exist ubiquitously in the solar atmosphere. They are important not only in their own rich physics but also essential candidates of triggering magnetic eruptions in the remote. However, the later mechanism has never been directly confirmed. By revisiting the successive eruptions on 2012 March 7, fast-mode shocks are identified to account for the X5.4 flare-related EUV wave with a velocity of 550 km/s, and appeared faster than 2060$\pm$270 km/s at the front of the corresponding coronal mass ejection in the slow-rising phase. They not only propagated much faster than the local Alfven speed of about 260 km/s, but also simultaneously accompanied by type II radio burst, i.e., a typical feature of shock wave. The observations show that the shock wave disturbs the coronal loops C1 connecting active regions (ARs) 11429 and 11430, which is neighboring a null point region. Following a 40-min-oscillation, an external magnetic reconnection (EMR) occurred in the null point region. About 10 min later, a large-scale magnetic flux rope (MFR) overlaid by the C1 became unstable and erupted quickly. It is thought that the fast-mode shock triggered EMR in the null point region and caused the subsequent eruptions. This scenario is observed directly for the first time, and provides new hint for understanding the physics of solar activities and eruptions., Comment: 13 pages, 6 figures, accepted for publication in ApJ

Due to projection effect and polarization sensitivity, it is still unknown whether the bipolar magnetic emergence (BME) exists in the solar polar region. In this study, combining the magnetic observations from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager and imaging observations of the 211 Å waveband from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly, we try to identify and diagnose the BME. Considering the magnetic evolution and the corresponding intensity variation in the extreme ultraviolet waveband, we find definite events of the BMEs in the solar polar region. In total, we identify more than 300 BMEs in the solar polar region in the whole year from 2010 June to 2011 May. We find that whether on the southern or northern polar region, the leading polarity of the BMEs is almost half-positive and half-negative, and the BMEs’ magnetic axes show random distribution in that direction. These results imply the possible existence of local dynamo in the solar polar region.

By using the unique database of SOHO/MDI full disk magnetograms from 1996 September to 2011 January, covering the entire solar cycle 23, we analyze the time-variability of the solar magnetic flux spectrum and study the properties of extended minimum of cycle 23. We totally identify 11.5 million magnetic structures. It has been revealed that magnetic features with different magnetic fluxes exhibit different cycle behaviors. The magnetic features with flux larger than $4.0 \times 10^{19}$ Mx, which cover solar active regions and strong network features, show exactly the same variation as sunspots; However, the remaining $82\%$ magnetic features which cover the majority of network elements show anti-phase variation with sunspots. We select a riterion that the monthly sunspot number is less than 20 to represent the Sun's low activity status. Then we find the extended minimum of cycle 23 is characterized by the long duration of low activity status, but the magnitude of magnetic flux in this period is not lower than previous cycle. Both the duration of low activity status and the minimum activity level defined by minimum sunspot number show a century period approximately. The extended minimum of cycle 23 shows similarities with solar cycle 11, which preceded the mini-maxima in later solar cycles. This similarity is suggestive that the solar cycles following cycle 23 are likely to have low activity.

The current study aims at quantifying the flux distributions of solar intranetwork (IN) magnetic field based on the data taken in four quiet and two enhanced network areas with the Narrow-band Filter Imager of the Solar Optical Telescope on board the Hinode satellite. More than 14000 IN elements and 3000 NT elements were visually identified. They exhibit a flux distribution function with a peak at 1 – 3×1016 Mx (maxwell) and 2 – 3×1017 Mx, respectively. We found that the IN elements contribute approximately to 52 % of the total flux and an average flux density of 12.4 gauss of the quiet region at any given time. By taking the lifetime of IN elements of about 3 min (Zhou et al., Solar Phys. 267, 63, 2010) into account, the IN fields are estimated to have total contributions to the solar magnetic flux up to 3.8×1026 Mx per day. No fundamental distinction can be identified in IN fields between the quiet and enhanced network areas.

In this report, we present our recent effort to understand the cyclic behavior of network magnetic elements based on the unique database from full-disk observations provided by Michelson Doppler Imager on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory in the interval including the entire cycle 23. The following results are unclosed. (1) The quiet regions dominate the solar magnetic flux for about 8 years in solar cycle 23, and from the solar minimum to maximum they contribute (0.94-1.44)×1023Mx flux to the solar photosphere. In the entire cycle 23, the magnetic flux of the quiet regions is 1.12 times that of active regions. The occupation ratio of quiet region flux equally characterizes the course of a solar cycle. (2) With the increasing magnetic flux per element, the variations of numbers and total flux of the network elements show three-fold scenario: no-correlation, anti-correlation, and correlation with sunspots, respectively. The anti-correlated elements covering the range of (3-32)×1018Mx occupy 77% of total element number and 37% of quiet Sun flux. (3) The time-latitude distribution of anti-correlated magnetic elements is out of phase with that of sunspots, while the correlated elements display the similar butterfly diagram of sunspots but with wider latitude distribution. These results imply that the correlated elements are the debris of decayed sunspots, and the source of anti-correlated elements is modulated by sunspot magnetic field.

The high spatial resolution observation of a quiet region taken with the Solar Optical Telescope/Spectro-Polarimeter aboard the Hinode spacecraft is analyzed. Based on the Milne–Eddington atmospheric model, the vector magnetic field of the quiet region is derived by fitting the full Stokes profiles of the Fe i 630 nm line pair. We extract intranetwork (IN) region from the quiet region and identify 5058 IN magnetic elements, and study their magnetic properties. As a comparison, the magnetic properties of network (NT) region are also analyzed. The main results are as follows. i) The IN area displays a predominance of weak (hecto-gauss) field concentration, i.e., 99.8 % of IN area shows the weak field. Moreover, the vector magnetic field exhibits concentration toward horizontal direction. However, for the NT region, we discover the coexistence of weak field and strong (kilo-gauss, kG) field. In the IN and NT regions, the filling factor shows almost the same probability distribution function with the peak at about 0.28. ii) All IN magnetic elements show field strength less than 1 kG. However, some NT elements display the coexistence of weak field and strong field. Regardless of NT or IN elements, about 20 % of elements lies in the Doppler blue-shift region. Our results imply that not all magnetic elements lie in the down-draft sites.

In this contribution, we present our recent effort in understanding the solar small-scale magnetic field. Firstly, with the unique data from MDI/SOHO in an interval embodying solar cycle 23, we find three categories of small-scale magnetic elements, and their number variations shows no correlation, anti-correlation and correlation with sunspots, respectively. The possible sources for the three categories of small-scale magnetic elements are discussed. Secondly, by the observations from SOT on board Hinode, we study the properties of vector magnetic field in quiet Sun. The following results are summarized. (1) Two categories of horizontal magnetic elements are disclosed, and most of horizontal elements are associate with the emergence of U-loop. (2) The magnetic field of quiet region is obviously non-potential. The filigrees and network bright points are characterized by strong longitudinal field, large electric helicity and free energy density. (3) For quiet region, the intra-network region displays a predominance of weak field concentration, but network region shows the coexisting of weak field with strong field; For polar region, the strong field occupies 6.7% of the region. (4) On quiet region, the magnetic field mainly resides in the inter-granular lanes. By the observation, we reconstruct an average granular model, for which the detailed distributions of vector fields, Doppler velocity and intensity are obtained.

Normal-mode observations of seven quiet regions, obtained by the Hinode space- craft, are used to analyze the physical properties of granules with mean upward and down- ward Doppler velocity. We identify 75 146 granules from the observations with a granule- detection method. Then the granules are divided into two subsets: one with negative mean Doppler velocity (granule-upflows), and the other with positive mean Doppler velocity (granule-downflows). Next, the statistical properties and distributions of these two subsets of granules are measured and discussed. We also study the relation between the Doppler velocity of granules and other properties. Several conclusions are drawn from the statistical analysis: i) The majority (73.5%) of granules have negative mean Doppler velocity (blueshift). ii) The continuum-intensity distri- bution of granule-upflows reaches a peak at 1.05, while that of granules-downflows reaches a peak at 0.99. iii) Granule-upflows are greater than granule-downflows if transverse, abso- lute longitudinal and unsigned flux density are smaller than 100 G, while granule-upflows are less than granule-downflows if the flux densities are greater than 100 G. iv) Granule- downflows are - on average - slightly smaller and fainter than granule-upflows. Also, the flux densities of granule-downflows are slightly higher. v) The mean Doppler velocity within intergranular lanes is the most highly correlated with that within granules among the eight properties of granules.

Based on Hinode SOT/NFI observations with greatly improved spatial and temporal resolution and polarization sensitivity, the lifestory of the intranetwork (IN) magnetic elements are explored in a solar quiet region. A total of 2282 IN elements are followed from their appearance to disappearance and their fluxes measured. By tracing individual IN elements their lifetimes are obtained, which fall in the range from 1 to 20 min. The average lifetime is 2.9±2.0 min. The observed lifetime distribution is well represented by an exponential function. Therefore, the e-fold characteristic lifetime is determined by a least-square fitting to the observations, which is 2.1±0.3 min. The lifetime of IN elements is correlated closely with their flux. The evolution of IN elements is described according to the forms of their birth and disappearance. Based on the lifetime and flux obtained from the new observations, it is estimated that the IN elements have the capacity of heating the corona with a power of 2.1×1028 erg s−1 for the whole Sun.

This paper studies the relationship between the development of granules and emergence (cancellation) of magnetic flux at small spatial scales (∼1″) in a quiet region taken with the spectro-polarimeter (SP) of the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) aboard the Hinode satellite. By examining 6 granular cell events, we have uncovered that a granular structure develops in a regular shape with a size as large as 2–3″, while the granule is pure, i.e. no magnetic flux emerges in the granule during its development. However, a granular structure develops in an irregular shape while emerging flux accompanies the granular development. Magnetic flux cancellation takes place between new emerging flux and pre-existing one. The transverse magnetic field significantly appears at the place where a tiny bipole emerges and where two opposite polarities cancel each other, but only the transverse field of emerging bipole points from the positive element to the negative element. In some cases, violent Doppler blueshifts at the early emerging stage of the magnetic elements appear. We suggest that the excess of the blue-shifts in the inter-granular lanes are produced by the magnetic reconnection below the photosphere

From the observed vector magnetic fields by the Solar Optical Telescope/Spectro–Polarimeter aboard the satellite Hinode, we have examined whether or not the quiet Sun magnetic fields are non-potential, and how the G-band filigrees and Ca II network bright points (NBPs) are associated with the magnetic non-potentiality. A sizable quiet region in the disk center is selected for this study. The new findings by the study are as follows. (1) The magnetic fields of the quiet region are obviously non-potential. The region-average shear angle is 40o, the average vertical current is 0.016A m−2, and the average free magnetic energy density, 2.7 × 102 erg cm−3. The magnitude of these non-potential quantities is comparable to that in solar active regions. (2) There are overall correlations among current helicity, free magnetic energy and longitudinal fields. The magnetic non-potentiality is mostly concentrated in the close vicinity of network elements which have stronger longitudinal fields. (3) The filigrees and NBPs are magnetically characterized by strong longitudinal fields, large electric helicity, and high free energy density. Because the selected region is away from any enhanced network, these new results can generally be applied to the quiet Sun. The findings imply that stronger network elements play a role in high magnetic non-potentiality in heating the solar atmosphere and in conducting the solar wind.

Flare-induced signals in polarization measurements which were manifested as apparent polarity reversal in magnetograms have been reported since 1981. We are motivated to further quantify the phenomenon by asking two questions: can we distinguish the flare-induced signals from real magnetic changes during flares, and what we can learn about flare energy release from the flare-induced signals? We select the X2.6 flare that occurred on 2005 January 15, for further study. The flare took place in NOAA active region (AR) 10720 at approximately the central meridian, which makes the interpretation of the vector magnetograms less ambiguous. We have identified that flare-induced signals during this flare appeared in six zones. The zones are located within an average distance of 5 Mm from their weight center to the main magnetic neutral line, have an average size of (0.6±0.4)×1017 cm2, duration of 13±4 min, and flux density change of 181±125 G in the area of reversed polarity. The following new facts have been revealed by this study: (1) the flare-induced signal is also seen in the transverse magnetograms but with smaller magnitude, e.g., about 50 G; (2) the flare-induced signal mainly manifests itself as apparent polarity reversal, but the signal starts and ends as a weakening of flux density; (3) The flare-induced signals appear in phase with the peaks of hard X-ray emission as observed by the Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), and mostly trace the position of RHESSI hard X-ray footpoint sources. (4) in four zones, it takes place co-temporally with real magnetic changes which persist after the flare. Only for the other two zones does the flux density recover to the pre-flare level immediately after the flare. The physical implications of the flare-induced signal are discussed in view of its relevance to the non-thermal electron precipitation and primary energy release in the flare.

Methods. We study an equatorial CH observed simultaneously by HINODE and STEREO on July 27, 2007. The HINODE/SP maps are adopted to derive the physical parameters of the photosphere and to research the magnetic field evolution and distribution. The G band and Ca II H images with high tempo-spatial resolution from HINODE/BFI and the multi-wavelength data from STEREO/EUVI are utilized to study the corresponding atmospheric response of different overlying layers. Results. We explore an emerging dipole locating at the CH boundary. Mini-scale arch filaments (AFs) accompanying the emerging dipole were observed with the Ca II H line. During the separation of the dipolar footpoints, three AFs appeared and expanded in turn. The first AF divided into two segments in its late stage, while the second and third AFs erupted in their late stages. The lifetimes of these three AFs are 4, 6, 10 minutes, and the two intervals between the three divisions or eruptions are 18 and 12 minutes, respectively. We display an example of mixed-polarity flux emergence of IN fields within the CH and present the corresponding chromospheric response. With the increase of the integrated magnetic flux, the brightness of the Ca II H images exhibits an increasing trend. We also study magnetic flux cancellations of NT fields locating at the CH boundary and present the obvious chromospheric and coronal response. We notice that the brighter regions seen in the 171 A images are relevant to the interacting magnetic elements. By examining the magnetic NT and IN elements and the response of different atmospheric layers, we obtain good positive linear correlations between the NT magnetic flux densities and the brightness of both G band (correlation coefficient 0.85) and Ca II H (correlation coefficient 0.58)., Comment: 9 pages, 9 figures. A&A, in press

Using the data observed by the Solar Optical Telescope/Spectro-Polarimeter aboard the Hinode satellite, the horizontal and vertical fields are derived from the wavelength-integrated measures of Zeeman-induced linear and circular polarizations. The quiet intranetwork regions are pervaded by horizontal magnetic elements. We categorize the horizontal intranetwork magnetic elements into two types: one is the non-isolated element which is accompanied by the vertical magnetic elements during its evolution; another is the isolated element which is not accompanied by the vertical magnetic elements. We identify 446 horizontal intranetwork magnetic elements, among them 87 elements are isolated and 359 are non-isolated. Quantitative measurements reveal that the isolated elements have relatively weaker horizontal magnetic fields, almost equal size, and shorter lifetime comparing with the non-isolated elements. Most non-isolated horizontal intranetwork magnetic elements are identified to associate with the emergence of Omega-shaped flux loops. A few non-isolated elements seem to indicate scenarios of submergence of Omega loops or emergence of U-like loops. There is a positive correlation between the lifetime and the size for both the isolated and non-isolated HIFs. It is also found that there is also positive correlation between the lifetime and the magnetic flux density for non-isolated HIFs, but no correlation for isolated HIFs. Even though the horizontal elements show lower magnetic flux density, they could carry the total magnetic flux in the order of magnitude close to 10^25 Mx to the solar surface each day., 10 figures, 25 pages. ApJ, in press

Observations of quiet Sun from the Solar Optical Telescope/Spectro-Polarimeter (SOT/SP) aboard the Hinode spacecraft would reveal the magnetic characters of the solar photosphere. By making use of the deep mode observations of three quiet regions, we have statistically studied the vector magnetic fields of solar granulation. More than 2000 normal granules are manually selected to form a sample. It is recognized that some granules are even darker than the mean photosphere in intensity, and there is a linear correlation between intensity and Doppler velocity in granules. The distributions of longitudinal and transverse apparent magnetic flux densities, Doppler velocity and continuum intensity of granules are obtained, and their unsigned magnetic flux measured. Two approaches are carried out in this study. First we obtained the magnetic properties of granulation by averaging the measurements for all the sampling granules. Secondly, we reconstructed an average granular cell based on a sub-sample, and obtained the detailed distribution of apparent magnetic flux density within the model granular cell. All the results have been compared with that of inter-granular lanes and a few typical abnormal granules., 24 pages in total, 9 figures

round-the-clock solar observations with full-disk coverage of vector magnetograms and multi-wavelength images demonstrate that solar active regions (ARs) are ultimately connected with magnetic field. Often two or more ARs are clustered, creating a favorable magnetic environment for the onset of coronal mass ejections (CMEs). In this work, we describe a new type of magnetic complex: cluster of solar ARs. An AR cluster is referred to as the close connection of two or more ARs which are located in nearly the same latitude and a narrow span of longitude. We illustrate three examples of AR clusters, each of which has two ARs connected and formed a common dome of magnetic flux system. They are clusters of NOAA (i.e., National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) ARs 11226 & 11227, 11429 & 11430, and 11525 & 11524. In these AR clusters, CME initiations were often tied to the instability of the magnetic structures connecting two partner ARs, in the form of inter-connecting loops and/or channeling filaments between the two ARs. We show the evidence that, at least, some of the flare/CMEs in an AR cluster are not a phenomenon of a single AR, but the result of magnetic interaction in the whole AR cluster. The observations shed new light on understanding the mechanism(s) of solar activity. Instead of the simple bipolar topology as suggested by the so-called standard flare model, a multi-bipolar magnetic topology is more common to host the violent solar activity in solar atmosphere.

Photospheric bright points (PBPs) and chromospheric bright points (CBPs) reflect the cross sections of magnetic flux tubes at different heights of the lower solar atmosphere. We aim to study the fine 3D structures and transportation dynamics of the magnetic flux tubes using G-band and simultaneous Ca II H image-series from the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board Hinode. A 3D track-while-detect method is proposed to detect and track PBPs and CBPs. The mean values of equivalent diameters, maximum intensity contrasts, transverse velocities, motion ranges, motion types, and diffusion indices of PBPs and CBPs are 180 +/- 20 and 210 +/- 30 km, 1.0 +/- 0.1 and 1.2 +/- 0.1 , 1.6 +/- 0.8 and 2.7 +/- 1.4 km s(-1), 1.5 +/- 0.6 and 1.7 +/- 0.8, 0.8 +/- 0.2 and 0.6 +/- 0.2, and 1.7 +/- 0.7 and 1.3 +/- 0.7, respectively. Moreover, the ratios of each CBP characteristics to its corresponding PBP are derived to explore the change rates of the flux tubes. The corresponding ratios are 1.2 +/- 0.2, 1.2 +/- 0.1, 1.9 +/- 0.1, 1.4 +/- 0.3, 0.7 +/- 0.2, and 0.9 +/- 0.4, respectively. The statistical results imply that the majority magnetic flux tubes expand slightly with increasing solar height, look brighter than their surroundings, show a higher transverse velocity, a wider motion range, and a more erratic path, but the majority of the flux tubes diffuse slightly slower. The phenomenon might be explained by the conservation of momentum combined with a decrease in density. The more erratic path leads to a swing or twist of the flux tubes and therefore guides magnetohydrodynamic waves.

The current study aims to quantify characteristic features of bipolar flux appearance of solar intranetwork (IN) magnetic elements. To attack such a problem, we use the Narrow-band Filter Imager (NFI) magnetograms from the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on board \emph{Hinode}; these data are from quiet and an enhanced network areas. Cluster emergence of mixed polarities and IN ephemeral regions (ERs) are the most conspicuous forms of bipolar flux appearance within the network. Each of the clusters is characterized by a few well-developed ERs that are partially or fully co-aligned in magnetic axis orientation. On average, the sampled IN ERs have total maximum unsigned flux of several 10^{17} Mx, separation of 3-4 arcsec, and a lifetime of 10-15 minutes. The smallest IN ERs have a maximum unsigned flux of several 10^{16} Mx, separations less than 1 arcsec, and lifetimes as short as 5 minutes. Most IN ERs exhibit a rotation of their magnetic axis of more than 10 degrees during flux emergence. Peculiar flux appearance, e.g., bipole shrinkage followed by growth or the reverse, is not unusual. A few examples show repeated shrinkage-growth or growth-shrinkage, like magnetic floats in the dynamic photosphere. The observed bipolar behavior seems to carry rich information on magneto-convection in the sub-photospheric layer., Comment: 26 pages, 14 figures

We study the relationship between granular development and magnetic field evolution in the quiet Sun. 6 typical cases are displayed to exhibit interaction between granules and magnetic elements, and we have obtained the following results. (1) A granule develops centrosymmetrically when no magnetic flux emerges within the granular cell. (2) A granule develops and splits noncentrosymmetrically while flux emerges at an outer part of the granular cell. (3) Magnetic flux emergence as a cluster of mixed polarities is detected at the position of a granule as soon as the granule breaks up. (4) A dipole emerges accompanying with the development of a granule, and the two elements of the dipole root in the adjacent intergranular lanes and face each other across the granule. Advected by the horizontal granular motion, the positive element of the dipole then cancels with pre-existing negative flux. (5) Flux cancellation also takes place between a positive element, which is advected by granular flow, and its surrounding negative flux. (6) While magnetic flux cancellation takes place at a granular cell, the granule shrinks and then disappears. (7) Horizontal magnetic fields enhance at the places where dipoles emerge and where opposite polarities cancel with each other, but only the horizontal fields between the dipolar elements point orderly from the positive element to the negative one. Our results reveal that granules and small-scale magnetic flux influence each other. Granular flow advects magnetic flux, and magnetic flux evolution suppresses granular development. There exist extremely large Doppler blue-shifts at the site of one cancelling magnetic element. This phenomenon may be caused by the upward flow produced by magnetic reconnection below the photosphere., Comment: 8 figures, 13 pages. RAA, in press

The ubiquitousness of the solar inter-network horizontal magnetic field has been revealed by space-borne observations with high spatial resolution and polarization sensitivity. However, no consensus has been achieved on the origin of the horizontal field among solar physicists. For a better understanding, in this study, we analyze the cyclic variation of the inter-network horizontal field by using the spectro-polarimeter observations provided by the Solar Optical Telescope on board Hinode, covering the interval from 2008 April to 2015 February. The method of wavelength integration is adopted to achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio. It is found that from 2008 to 2015 the inter-network horizontal field does not vary when solar activity increases, and the average flux density of the inter-network horizontal field is 87 ± 1 G, In addition, the imbalance between horizontal and vertical fields also keeps invariant within the scope of deviation, i.e., 8.7 ± 0.5, from the solar minimum to maximum of solar cycle 24. This result confirms that the inter-network horizontal field is independent of the sunspot cycle. The revelation favors the idea that a local dynamo is creating and maintaining the solar inter-network horizontal field.

The solar inter-network magnetic field is the weakest component of solar magnetism, but it contributes most of the solar surface magnetic flux. The study of its origin has been constrained by the inadequate tempospatial resolution and sensitivity of polarization observations. With dramatic advances in spatial resolution and detecting sensitivity, the solar spectropolarimetry provided by the Solar Optical Telescope on board Hinode in an interval from the solar minimum to maximum of cycle 24 opens an unprecedented opportunity to study the cyclic behavior of the solar inter-network magnetic field. More than 1000 Hinode magnetograms observed from 2007 January to 2014 August are selected in the study. It has been found that there is a very slight correlation between sunspot number and magnetic field at the inter-network flux spectrum. From solar minimum to maximum of cycle 24, the flux density of the solar inter-network field is invariant, at 10 ± 1 G. The observations suggest that the inter-network magnetic field does not arise from flux diffusion or flux recycling of solar active regions, thereby indicating the existence of a local small-scale dynamo. Combining the full-disk magnetograms observed by the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Michelson Doppler Imager and the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager in the same period, we find that the area ratio of the inter-network region to the full disk of the Sun apparently decreases from solar minimum to maximum but always exceeds 60%, even in the phase of solar maximum.

We used daily full-disk Ca II 854.2?nm magnetograms from the Synoptic Optical Long Term Investigations of the Sun (SOLIS) facility to study the chromospheric magnetic field from 2006 April through 2009 November. We determined and corrected previously unidentified zero offsets in the SOLIS magnetograms. By tracking the disk passages of stable unipolar regions, the measured net flux densities were found to systematically decrease from the disk center to the limb by a factor of about two. This decrease was modeled using a thin flux tube model with a difference in signal formation height between the center and limb sides. Comparison of photospheric and chromospheric observations shows that their differences are largely due to horizontal spreading of magnetic flux with increasing height. The north polar magnetic field decreased nearly linearly with time during our study period while the south polar field was nearly constant. We used the annual change in the viewing angle of the polar regions to estimate the radial and meridional components of the polar fields and found that the south polar fields were tilted away from the pole. Synoptic maps of the chromospheric radial flux density distribution were used as boundary conditions for extrapolation of the field from the chromosphere into the corona. A comparison of modeled and observed coronal hole boundaries and coronal streamer positions showed better agreement when using the chromospheric rather than the photospheric synoptic maps.

With the unique data set from full-disk observations provided by Michelson Doppler Imager on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory in the interval embodying solar cycle 23, we have found that the cyclic variations of numbers and total flux of these small-scale magnetic elements covering fluxes of (2.9-32.0) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 18} Mx and (4.27-38.01) Multiplication-Sign 10{sup 19} Mx show anticorrelation and correlation with sunspots, respectively. In this study, the time-latitude distributions of these anticorrelated and correlated elements are analyzed. The following results are disclosed: (1) for the correlated elements, the cyclic variations of the total flux in low-latitude and middle-latitude regions show a longer duration of cyclic maximum phase than that of an active region (AR) in the corresponding latitude region; the total flux of these elements shows the accordant south-north asymmetry with that of AR; the time-latitude distribution of their number displays a similar butterfly diagram but with a latitude distribution that is twice as wide as that of sunspots. (2) For the anticorrelated elements, the time-latitude distribution of number shows a solar cycle variation different from the sunspot butterfly diagram; in each latitude, the distribution of anticorrelated elements always shows the anticorrelated variation with that of sunspots; duringmore » solar cycle 23, the average speed of the peak latitudinal migration for anticorrelated elements reaches 7.5 deg year{sup -1}, almost three times that for sunspots. These results seem to imply that the correlated elements are the debris of decayed sunspots, and the anticorrelated elements have a different source but are affected or modulated by sunspot magnetic field.« less

We study the vector magnetic fields of a solar polar region (PR) based on Solar Optical Telescope/Spectro-Polarimeter measurements. To better understand the polar magnetic properties, we compare the observed polar field with that in two solar quiet regions at the limb (QRL) and the disk center (QRD), and with that in a region of a low-latitude coronal hole (CHR). The following results are discussed: (1) The average vertical flux density of PR is 16 G, while the average horizontal flux density is 91 G. If we assume that the observed polar field suffers the same amount of limb weakening in polarization measurements as the Sun's quiet region, the average unsigned flux density in the pole would be 54 G, 60% stronger than that in the CHR. (2) The kG field in the PR occupies 6.7% of the region. The magnetic filling factor in the PR is characterized by a two-peak distribution, which appears at a field strength close to 100 G and 1000 G, respectively. (3) For the network elements, a correlation holds between the vertical and horizontal flux densities, suggesting the same physical entity is manifested by the observed stronger vertical and horizontal components. (4) The ratio of the magnetic flux in the minority polarity to that in the dominant polarity is approximately 0.5, implying that only 1/3 of the magnetic flux in the PR opens to the interplanetary space. Exemplified with CHR by a quasi-linear force-free extrapolation of the observed magnetic field, we find that the photospheric open flux is not always associated with strong vertical magnetic elements.

With the unique database from Michelson Doppler Imager aboard the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory in an interval embodying solar cycle 23, the cyclic behavior of solar small-scale magnetic elements is studied. More than 13 million small-scale magnetic elements are selected, and the following results are unclosed. (1) The quiet regions dominated the Sun's magnetic flux for about 8 years in the 12.25 year duration of Cycle 23. They contributed (0.94 - 1.44) $\times 10^{23}$ Mx flux to the Sun from the solar minimum to maximum. The monthly average magnetic flux of the quiet regions is 1.12 times that of active regions in the cycle. (2) The ratio of quiet region flux to that of the total Sun equally characterizes the course of a solar cycle. The 6-month running-average flux ratio of quiet region had been larger than 90.0% for 28 continuous months from July 2007 to October 2009, which characterizes very well the grand solar minima of Cycles 23-24. (3) From the small to large end of the flux spectrum, the variations of numbers and total flux of the network elements show no-correlation, anti-correlation, and correlation with sunspots, respectively. The anti-correlated elements, covering the flux of (2.9 - 32.0)$\times 10^{18}$ Mx, occupies 77.2% of total element number and 37.4% of quiet Sun flux. These results provide insight into reason for anti-correlated variations of small-scale magnetic activity during the solar cycle., Comment: 21 pages, 6 figures, Accepted by ApJ