Comparison of the Scaling Properties of EUV Intensity Fluctuations in Coronal Hole and Quiet-Sun Regions

TL;DR

This study compares the scaling properties of EUV intensity fluctuations in coronal hole and quiet-Sun regions, revealing different correlation behaviors linked to magnetic field structures and underlying physical processes.

Contribution

It introduces a novel application of DFA and R/S analysis to map the statistical nature of EUV intensity fluctuations across solar regions.

Findings

Scaling symmetry observed over 20 min to 1 hour range.

Different scaling exponents indicate distinct turbulence and magnetic field processes.

Signature of self-organized criticality near coronal hole boundaries.

Abstract

Using detrended fluctuation analysis (DFA) and rescaled range (R/S) analysis, we investigate the scaling properties of EUV intensity fluctuations of low-latitude coronal holes (CHs) and neighboring quiet-Sun (QS) regions in signals obtained with the Solar Dynamics Observatory/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (SDO/AIA) instrument. Contemporaneous line-of-sight SDO/Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) magnetic fields provide a context for the physical environment. We find that the intensity fluctuations in the time series of EUV images present at each spatial point a scaling symmetry over the range $\sim 20$ min to $\sim$ 1 hour. Thus we are able to calculate a generalized Hurst exponent and produce image maps, not of physical quantities like intensity or temperature, but of a single dynamical parameter that sums up the statistical nature of the intensity fluctuations at each pixel. In quiet-Sun (QS) regions and in coronal holes (CHs) with magnetic bipoles, the scaling exponent ($1.0 < \alpha \leq 1.5$) corresponds to anti-correlated turbulent-like processes. In coronal holes, and in quiet-Sun regions primarily associated with (open) magnetic field of dominant polarity, the generalized exponent (0.5 $< \alpha <$ 1) corresponds to positively-correlated (persistent) processes. We identify a tendency for $\alpha$ $\sim$ $1$ near coronal hole boundaries and in other regions in which open and closed magnetic fields are in proximity. This is a signature of an underlying $1/f$ type process that is characteristic for self-organized criticality and shot-noise models.