Constructing Solar Magnetic Power Spectra from MDI Magnetograms

J. Lee, J.-C. Chae, and H.S. Yun

We propose to obtain magnetograms of solar quiet regions using the MDI for a purpose of studying properties of the photospheric fields in terms of power spectrum. A power spectrum analysis of magnetic field distribution is a powerful tool for quantifying and revealing the hierarchical nature of solar magnetic fields. However, a main obstacle for achieving this goal has been that the ground-based observations of solar magnetic fields are under the influence of atmospheric seeing which precludes accurate determination of the high wavenumber regime of the power spectrum. Recently we (Lee et al. 1996) addressed this problem in detail using a deep magnetogram obtained at Big Bear Solar Observatory and a carefully-determined Modulation Transfer Function (MTF) for the atmospheric seeing.

We wish to carry out the same analysis using data obtained from MDI, for they are the most ideal for this problem. The fact that MDI magnetograms are free of the atmospheric seeing contamination, together with its high sensitivity to weak fields in the photosphere, will permit a more accurate determination of spectral morphology of the solar magnetic power spectrum than ever. Once data are obtained, analysis of the data can be performed in a straightforward manner with use of our softwares at hand.