An Automated Algorithm for Identifying and Tracking Transverse Waves in Solar Images

Abstract

Recent instrumentation has demonstrated that the solar atmosphere supports omnipresent transverse waves, which could play a key role in energizing the solar corona. Large-scale studies are required in order to build up an understanding of the general properties of these transverse waves. To help facilitate this, we present an automated algorithm for identifying and tracking features in solar images and extracting the wave properties of any observed transverse oscillations. We test and calibrate our algorithm using a set of synthetic data which includes noise and rotational effects. The results indicate an accuracy of 1-2% for displacement amplitudes and 4-10% for wave periods and velocity amplitudes. We also apply the algorithm to data from the Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) on board the $\text{Solar Dynamics Observatory}$ (SDO) and find good agreement with previous studies. Of note, we find that 35-41% of the observed plumes exhibit multiple wave signatures, which indicates either the superposition of waves or multiple independent wave packets observed at different times within a single structure. The automated methods described in this paper represent a significant improvement on the speed and quality of direct measurements of transverse waves within the solar atmosphere. This algorithm unlocks a wide range of statistical studies that were previously impractical.

arXiv comment34 pages, including references and 6 figures

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Cited by in corpus (20)

• A basal contribution from p-modes to the Alfvénic wave flux in the Sun's corona
• MHD Waves in open coronal structures
• Investigating `dark' energy in the solar corona using forward modeling of MHD waves
• High Frequency Waves in Chromospheric Spicules
• Weak damping of propagating MHD kink waves in the quiescent corona
• Contribution of observed multi frequency spectrum of Alfvén waves to coronal heating
• Novel data analysis techniques in coronal seismology
• A Statistical Investigation of Decayless Oscillations in Small-scale Coronal Loops Observed by Solar Orbiter/EUI
• Effect of Coronal Loop Structure on Wave Heating by Phase Mixing
• Transverse motions in sunspot super-penumbral fibrils
• A statistical study of propagating MHD kink waves in the quiescent corona
• The fine-scale structure of polar coronal holes
• A New Analysis Procedure for Detecting Periodicities within Complex Solar Coronal Arcades
• Dynamics of descending knots in a solar prominence and their possible contributions to the heating of the local corona
• Propagating Kink Waves in an Open Coronal Magnetic Flux Tube with Gravitational Stratification: Magnetohydrodynamic Simulation and Forward Modelling
• Unveiling the True Nature of Plasma Dynamics from the Reference Frame of a Super-penumbral Fibril
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• Propagating Oscillations in the Lower Atmosphere under Coronal Holes
• High-Frequency Magnetohydrodynamic Waves with Substantial Energy in the Solar Polar Corona
• Spectra of standing kink waves in loops and the effects of the lower solar atmosphere