Robert Stein/Michigan State University

Applying Magneto-Convection Simulations to Helioseismology and Flux Emergence

The goal of this research is to test and refine techniques for detecting active regions

before the are visible and to investigate the physical process of flux emergence through

the solar surface (focused science topic 3). To achieve this

we will perform realistic, three-dimensional, magneto-convection simulations of a region

of the solar surface larger than supergranules (96 Mm wide by 30 Mm deep) for three

different situations:

(1) Magneto-convection with an active region

(2) Magneto-convection with horizontal field advected into the domain by inflows at the

bottom

(3) The rise of a magnetic flux tube from near the bottom through the

surface.

The data sets produced by these simulations are of large enough dimensions and will be

of long enough duration (more than two days) that they will provide a test bed for

evaluating and refining local helioseismic techniques -- time-distance, ring diagrams and

holography. This will improve our ability to

predict the emergence of magnetic flux before it becomes visible and

to study the structure and evolution of active regions.