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Ambient acoustic imaging in helioseismology

Nature volume 389, pages 825–827 (1997)Cite this article

Abstract

The increasing availability of high spatial resolution data of velocity and intensity variations on the Sun has stimulated the development of helioseismological techniques that probe the solar interior in localized regions. The techniques developed so far1,2,3,4 have yielded information on physical quantities (such as the flow velocity and magnetic field) below the surface, but are still far from providing a detailed picture of local subsurface inhomogeneities. Here we report the development and application of a new method for constructing three-dimensional solar images, utilizing acoustic noise (or stochastic P-mode oscillations) in the Sun. We treat a region of the solar surface as a phased array of acoustic sensors, which acts as a computational ‘lens’; acoustic waves ‘scattered’ by local inhomogeneities, such as sunspots, are collected and summed in phase, based on the knowledge of how (on average) they travel within the Sun. In this way, we are able to construct a three-dimensional image of a region of the solar interior.

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Figure 1: a K-line image; b, direct acoustic image; and c–f, reconstructed acoustic images at various depths for the same area
Figure 2: Time–distance relations at various depths, computed from a standard solar model, based on the ray theory at 3 mHz.
Figure 3: Relative mean quiet Sun acoustic intensity, μ (solid dots), defined in the text, and the average acoustic intensity inside the sunspot normalized by μ (open dots).

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Acknowledgements

H.-K.C. D.-Y.C. and the Taiwan Oscillation Network project were supported by the NSC of the Republic of China and Hitron Tech. Inc. B.L. was supported by NASA.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Physics Department, Tsing Hua University, Hsinchu, 30043, Taiwan

    Hsiang-Kuang Chang & Dean-Yi Chou

  2. Institute for Astronomy, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, 96822, Hawaii, USA

    Barry LaBonte

Author notes

  1. The TON Team includes: M.-T. Sun, T.-M. Mu, H.-R. Chen, S. Loudagh and S.-J. Yeh (Taiwan); A. Jimenez and M. C. Rabello-Soares (Spain); G. Ai and G.-P. Wang (China); H. Zirin and W. Marquette (USA); S. Ehgamberdiev and S. Khalikov (Uzbekistan).

    • the TON Team

  2. A. Jimenez and M. C. Rabello-Soares (Spain), A. Jimenez and M. C. Rabello-Soares (Spain)

    • the TON Team
Authors
  1. Hsiang-Kuang Chang
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  2. Dean-Yi Chou
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  3. Barry LaBonte
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  4. the TON Team
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Chang, HK., Chou, DY., LaBonte, B. et al. Ambient acoustic imaging in helioseismology. Nature 389, 825–827 (1997). https://doi.org/10.1038/39822

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