SDO-4 / IRIS / Hinode Workshop

Dynamics and energetics of the coupled solar atmosphere
The synergy between state-of-the-art observations and numerical simulations

Hote InterContinental The Clement, Monterey CA, March 12-16, 2012

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Meeting Goals

Dynamics and energetics of the coupled solar atmosphere

Thanks to major advances in observational and modelling capabilities, we are on the brink of a revolution in our understanding of how non-thermal energy deposition forms and shapes the Sun's chromosphere and corona.

These insights require observations and numerical models that cover and couple all temperature domains between the photosphere and corona, all at a spatial and temporal resolution that are high enough to trace the highly dynamic nature of energy deposition in the solar atmosphere.

The advent of innovative instrumentation on the ground (IBIS, CRISP, COMP, ...), powerful current space-based observatories (Hinode's SOT, EIS and XRT or SDO's AIA and HMI), as well as future missions such as IRIS, Solar Orbiter or Solar C, combined with a major breakthrough in computational capabilities with models that cover a physical domain from the convection zone into the corona or solar wind, are driving new insights on such diverse topics as the heating of the chromosphere, the coupling between chromosphere and corona, the mass cycle of the corona, the role of waves and braiding in heating the solar atmosphere, and the acceleration of the fast solar wind.

An overarching theme of the meeting is to cover how different regions in the solar atmosphere are coupled, with a particular focus on the chromosphere, the region where most of the non-thermal energy in the solar atmosphere is deposited. The meeting will focus on quiescence, i.e., the non-flaring, non-eruptive state of the atmosphere in coronal holes, quiet Sun and active regions.

The major goals of this meeting are:

  1. Provide an overview of recent insights in how different regions in the solar atmosphere are coupled and energized with a focus on how magnetic flux, mass and energy are transported through the atmosphere. This will be done by confronting recent advanced numerical models with state-of-the-art high resolution observations.
  2. Provide the community with an overview of outstanding challenges, such as the heating of the chromosphere, its connection to the corona, the role and interpretation of chromospheric magnetism in revealing the connectivity and energy deposition in the low solar atmosphere, and the relative role of waves and braiding in the heating of coronal plasma.
  3. Prepare the community to fully exploit the novel diagnostic capabilities that will be provided by future missions such as the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS) small explorer, due for launch in late 2012, ESA's Solar Orbiter, or Japan's Solar C mission. This will be done in part by providing tutorial and discussion sessions on optically thick chromospheric diagnostics (including spectropolarimetry) which are a major part of the diagnostic capabilities of both missions, and in part by illustrations of how detailed comparisons between synthetic observables from numerical models and observations lead to physical insights.