Estimating the longitudinal magnetic field in the chromosphere of quiet-Sun magnetic concentrations

TL;DR

This study estimates the longitudinal magnetic field in quiet Sun chromosphere regions using high-resolution data and the weak-field approximation, revealing size-dependent magnetic field variations and the influence of spectral range on measurements.

Contribution

It introduces a method to analyze size-dependent magnetic fields in the chromosphere using spectral data and assesses the impact of spectral range and data processing on magnetic field estimates.

Findings

Magnetic field strength varies with structure size.

Wider spectral ranges include more photospheric contribution.

Estimates are less reliable for larger concentrations and wider spectral ranges.

Abstract

Details of the magnetic field in the quiet Sun chromosphere are key to our understanding of essential aspects of the solar atmosphere. We aim to determine the longitudinal magnetic field component (B_lon) of quiet Sun regions depending on their size. We estimated B_lon by applying the weak-field approximation (WFA) to high-spatial-resolution Ca II 854.2 nm data taken with the Swedish 1m Solar Telescope. Specifically, we analyzed the estimates inferred for different spectral ranges using the data at the original cadence and temporally integrated signals. The longitudinal magnetic field in each considered plasma structure correlates with its size. Using a spectral range restricted to the line core leads to chromospheric longitudinal fields varying from 50 G at the edges to 150-500 G at the center of the structure. These values increase as the spectral range widens due to the photospheric contribution. However, the difference between this contribution and the chromospheric one is not uniform for all structures. Small and medium-sized concentrations show a steeper height gradient in B_lon compared to their chromospheric values, so estimates for wider ranges are less trustworthy. Signal addition does not alleviate this situation as the height gradients in B_lon are consistent with time. Finally, despite the amplified noise levels that deconvolving processes may cause, data restored with the destretching technique show similar results, though are affected by smearing. We obtained B_lon estimates similar to those previously found, except for large concentrations and wide spectral ranges. In addition, we report a correlation between the height variation of B_lon compared to the chromospheric estimates and the concentration size. This correlation affects the difference between the photospheric and chromospheric magnetic flux values and the reliability of the estimates for wider spectral ranges.