Statistical characteristics of horizontal proper motions in the vicinity of pores

TL;DR

This study analyzes the statistical properties of horizontal flows around solar pores using high-quality Hinode data, revealing insights into pore evolution and magnetic environment interactions.

Contribution

It provides a systematic statistical analysis of flow fields around pores, utilizing a large dataset of G-band images for comprehensive characterization.

Findings

Flow maps reveal diverse flow patterns around pores.

Flow characteristics vary with pore evolutionary stage.

Magnetic environment influences flow behavior.

Abstract

Movement and coalescence of magnetic elements could explain the evolution and growth of pores. There have been numerous studies focusing on flow fields in and around individual pores. We have undertaken a systematic study of the statistical properties of such flows. Data of the Hinode Solar Optical Telescope offer an opportunity for this type of research, because of the uniform data quality and absence of seeing so that pores can directly be compared in different environments and at various stages of their evolution. We analyzed about 220 time-series of G-band images using local correlation tracking. The thus computed flow maps make up a database, which covers various scenes on the solar surface. We use an isolated pore to illustrate the statistical parameters collected for further statistical analysis, which include information about morphology, horizontal flows, evolutionary stage (young, mature, or decaying), complexity of the surrounding magnetic field, and proximity to sunspots or cluster of G-band bright points.