Hi Scott,

 

From: loops-bounces@solar.physics.montana.edu [mailto:loops-bounces@solar.physics.montana.edu] On Behalf Of Scott W. McIntosh
Sent: Tuesday, July 31, 2012 10:46 AM
To: A mailing list for scientists involved in the observation andmodeling of solar loop structures
Cc: (Loops@solar.physics.montana.edu)
Subject: Re: [Loops] type II spicule paper

 

Hi Jim, 

 

Just scanned through, will send you comments after a thorough reading, but looks like a fair discussion. Couple of points though:

 

Are "A" waves a viable energetic supply to the corona? They get no mention and I understand that the net effect of their dissipation would be nanoflares-like heating distribution. 

 

***  In principle, Alfven waves could be heating the corona, at least in the quiet Sun, as your recent work suggests.  And indeed, wave heating would likely fit into the classification of nanoflares, since there would be an impulsive energy release from the perspective of an individual magnetic flux strand.  But my paper isn’t attempting to address the nature of coronal heating.  It simply means to show that there must be an energy release in the corona in order to explain the hot plasma that we observe there.  Ejecting hot material at the tips of spicules isn’t enough if you buy my analysis.

 

Btw, in addition to the above, discriminatory studies of quiet and coronal hole plasmas hold the key to the down-up (evaporative) vs up-down (type 2 "initiated") mass components of the mass cycle. It is a real push to expect the original energy supply for them to be different, but in one the coronal backwash is missing. The (detailed) study of the  multi-component line profiles between the two should show the relative weighting of evaporative processes (regardless of their origin - see above) in the QS. My student has done a pretty detailed study of this and is about to submit a paper on her results - I will distribute to the list once submitted.

 

*** I look forward to the paper.  Regarding multi-component line profiles (weakly red shifted line core with a blue wing component), I would make the following point.  The core emission likely comes from hot material that is cooling and draining, regardless of whether the hot material came from evaporation or spicules.  The blue wing emission that is seen in lines <2 MK likely comes from spicules.  Coronal nanoflares (reconnection, waves, whatever) are expected to produce blue wing emission only in very hot (>3 MK) lines, at least according to the modeling work that Spiros and I did in 2006.  So, my picture is that the corona is comprised of unresolved strands.  Most are dominated by coronal heating and some are dominated by type II spicules.

 

Last point: why can't type-Ii spicules be the manifestation of nanoflares in a stratified inhomogeneous plasma?

 

Depends on where the nanoflares occur.  Nanoflares that occur in the transition region or corona (in plasma that is originally hotter than 10^4 K) will not produce ejections of cold material.  I have a discussion of this in the paper.  Nanoflares that occur deep in the chromosphere, below the eventual spicule, can produce cold ejections.

 

Thanks for the comments!

Jim


Cheers, Scott

 

Sent from my iPhone

 

Dr. Scott W. McIntosh

High Altitude Observatory

NCAR/UCAR, Boulder CO 

off: (303) 497-1544

mob: (720) 340-6263


On Jul 31, 2012, at 7:47, "Klimchuk, James A. (GSFC-6710)" <james.a.klimchuk@nasa.gov> wrote:

Dear friends,

 

      You might be interested in my recent paper on “The Role of Type II Spicules in the Upper Solar Atmosphere,”  which can be downloaded at   http://arxiv.org/abs/1207.7048

 

Cheers,

Jim

 

ABSTRACT:

We examine the suggestion that most of the hot plasma in the Sun's

corona comes from type II spicule material that is heated as it is

ejected from the chromosphere.  This contrasts with the traditional

view that the corona is filled via chromospheric evaporation that

results from coronal heating.  We explore the observational

consequences of a hypothetical spicule dominated corona and conclude

from the large discrepancy between predicted and actual observations

that only a small fraction of the hot plasma can be supplied by

spicules (<2% in active regions and <5% in the quiet Sun).  The

red-blue asymmetries of EUV spectral lines and the ratio of lower

transition region (LTR; T<0.1 MK) to coronal emission measures

are both predicted to be 2 orders of magnitude larger than observed.

Furthermore, hot spicule material would cool dramatically by

adiabatic expansion as it rises into the corona, so coronal heating

would be required to maintain the high temperatures that are seen at

all altitudes.  The necessity of coronal heating is inescapable.

Traditional coronal heating models predict far too little emission

from the LTR, and we suggest that this emission comes primarily from

the bulk of the spicule material that is heated to <0.1 MK and

is visible in He II (304 A) as it falls back to the surface.

 

********************************************************************************

James A. Klimchuk

NASA Goddard Space Flight Center

Solar Physics Lab, Code 671

Bldg. 21, Rm. 158

Greenbelt, MD  20771

USA

 

Phone:  1-301-286-9060

Fax:      1-301-286-7194

E-mail:  James.A.Klimchuk@nasa.gov

Homepage:  https://sedupdate.gsfc.nasa.gov/sed/index.cfm?fuseAction=people.jumpBio&&iPhonebookId=15844

No endorsement by NASA is implied for any correspondence related to my role as an officer of professional organizations (American Geophysical Union, International Astronomical Union, American Astronomical Society).

 

********************************************************************************

 

 

_______________________________________________
Loops mailing list
Loops@solar.physics.montana.edu
https://mithra.physics.montana.edu/mailman/listinfo/loops