Solar Physics Talk
Wednesday, Feb. 13, 2008 at 3:30 in Bldg. 26, Rm G10
of Goddard Space Flight Center
Mike Marsh
NASA Post-doctoral Program, GSFC
Bayesian Analysis of Solar Oscillations
A Bayesian probability based approach is applied to the problem of detecting and
parameterizing oscillations in the upper solar atmosphere for the first time.
Due to its statistical origin, this method provides a mechanism for determining
the number of oscillations present, gives precise estimates of the oscillation
parameters with a self-consistent statistical error analysis, and allows the
oscillatory model signals to be reconstructed within these errors.
A highly desirable feature of the Bayesian approach is the ability to resolve
oscillations with extremely small frequency separations.
The code is applied to SOHO/CDS (Solar and Heliospheric Observatory/Coronal
Diagnostic Spectrometer) O V 629A observations and resolves four distinct P4,
P5, P6 and P7 p-modes within the same sunspot transition region.
This suggests that a spectrum of photospheric p-modes is able to propagate into
the upper atmosphere of the Sun and Sun-like stars, and places precise
observational constraints on models of umbral eigen modes.
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