Date of Award
2023
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Bachelors
Department
Natural Sciences
First Advisor
Ruppeiner, George
Area of Concentration
Physics
Abstract
Radiative magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of the upper solar convection zone and photosphere have important applications for studying solar atmospheric dynamics. Forward modeling via spectral line synthesis is necessary to directly compare MHD simulation output to real observational signatures of solar granulation. In this thesis, the instrumental effects of the Sunrise Imaging Magnetograph eXperiment (IMaX) are modeled and applied to spectral lines synthesized from the Max Planck Institute for Solar System Research University of Chicago Radiative MHD (MURaM) simulation. It is demonstrated that the synthetic data reproduces the observed vertical velocities and continuum intensities of granulation to some extent, but not to the extent of previously published studies. Inconsistencies in the Sunrise telescope’s pointing are shown to be an ill-constrained parameter in the observation synthesis. Granule sizes are found to be strongly dependent on the presence of solar acoustic oscillations within the IMaX observations. The results provide important insights into the limitations and challenges of forward modeling observations of solar granulation from radiative MHD simulations. These insights will be invaluable to future studies which aim to synthesize observational data from the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST).
Recommended Citation
Laughrey, Corinne, "Forward modeling high-resolution observations of solar granulation from radiative MHD simulations" (2023). Theses & ETDs. 6389.
https://digitalcommons.ncf.edu/theses_etds/6389