Acoustic tomography of solar convective flows and structures

TL;DR

This paper introduces a novel helioseismic inversion method to map the three-dimensional structure of sound speed, magnetic fields, and flow velocities in the solar convection zone using acoustic travel-time data from observations.

Contribution

The paper develops a new 3D inversion technique based on Fermat's Principle and regularized least-squares to analyze solar interior structures from acoustic travel times.

Findings

Successful mapping of sound speed perturbations in the solar convection zone.

Detection of flow velocities and magnetic field effects on wave propagation.

Application to both quiet Sun and active regions.

Abstract

We present a new method for helioseismic diagnostics of the three-dimensional structure of sound speed, magnetic fields and flow velocities in the convection zone by inversion of acoustic travel-time data. The data are measurements of the time for acoustic waves to travel between points on the solar surface and surrounding annuli obtained from continuous observations at the South Pole in 1991 and from high-resolution observations from the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) in 1996. The travel time of the waves depends primarily on the sound speed perturbations and the velocity of flow along the ray paths. The effects of the sound speed perturbations and flows can be separated by measuring the travel time of waves propagating in opposite directions along the same ray paths. Magnetic fields result in anisotropy of the wave speed. A 3D inversion method based on Fermat's Principle and a regularized least-squares technique have been applied to infer the properties of convection in the quiet Sun and in active regions.