Identification

Title

Global solar magnetic field evolution over 4 solar cycles: Use of the McIntosh Archive

Abstract

The McIntosh Archive consists of a set of hand-drawn solar Carrington maps created by Patrick McIntosh from 1964 to 2009. McIntosh used mainly Hα, He-I 10830 Å and photospheric magnetic measurements from both ground-based and NASA satellite observations. With these he traced polarity inversion lines (PILs), filaments, sunspots and plage and, later, coronal holes over a ~45-year period. This yielded a unique record of synoptic maps of features associated with the large-scale solar magnetic field over four complete solar cycles. We first discuss how these and similar maps have been used in the past to investigate long-term solar variability. Then we describe our work in preserving and digitizing this archive, developing a digital, searchable format, and creating a website and an archival repository at NOAA's National Centers for Environmental Information (NCEI). Next we show examples of how the data base can be utilized for scientific applications. Finally, we present some preliminary results on the solar-cycle evolution of the solar magnetic field, including the polar field reversal process, the evolution of active longitudes, and the role of differential solar rotation.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.org/ark:/85065/d79z97tn

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2018-07-31T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact