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OCR for page R1
The Field of Solar Physics:
Review and
Recommendations
for Ground-Based
Solar Research
Report of the
Committee on Solar Physics
Commission on Physical Sciences,
Mathematics, and Resources
National Research Council
NATIONAL ACADEMY PRESS
Wash i ngton D C. 1989
OCR for page R2
NOTICE: Lee project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing
Board of the National Research Council, whose membem are drawn from the councils of
the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineenng, and the Institute
of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for
their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This report has been reviewed by a group other than the authors according to
procedures approved by a Report Review Committee consisting of membem of the National
Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine.
The National Academy of Sciences is a private, nonprofit, self-perpetuating society
of distinguished scholars engaged in scientific and engineering research, dedicated to the
furtherance of science and technology and to their use for the general welfare. Upon the
authority of the charter granted to it by the Congress in 1863, the Academy has a mandate
that requires it to advise the federal government on scientific and technical matters. Dr.
Frank Press is president of the National Academy of Sciences.
The National Academy of Engineering was established in 1964, under the charter of
the National Academy of Sciences, as a parallel organization of outstanding engineers. It
is autonomous in its administration and in the selection of its members, sharing with the
National Academy of Sciences the responsibility for advising the federal government. The
National Academy of Engineering also sponsors engineering programs aimed at meeting
national needs, encourages education and research, and recognizes the superior achievements
of engineers. Dr. Robert M. White is president of the National Academy of Engineering.
The Institute of Medicine was established in 1970 by the National Academy of Sciences
to secure the services of eminent members of appropriate professions in the examination
of policy matters pertaining to the health of the public. The Institute acts under the
responsibility given to the National Academy of Sciences by its congressional charter to
be an adviser to the federal government and, upon its own initiative, to identity issues of
medical care, research, and education. Dr. Samuel O. Thier is president of the Institute of
Medicine.
The National Research Council was organized by the National Academy of Sciences
in 1916 to associate the broad community of science and technology with the Academy's
purposes of furthering knowledge and advising the federal government. Functioning in
accordance with general policies determined by the Academy, the Council has become the
principal operating agency of both the National Academy of Sciences and the National
Academy of Engineering in providing services to the government, the public, and the
scientific and engineering communities. The Council is administered jointly by both
Academies and the Institute of Medicine. Dr. Frank Press and Dr. Robert M. White are
chairman and vice chairman, respectively, of the National Research Council.
Support for this project was provided by the National Science Foundation under Grant
Number AST-8704262.
Library of Congress Catalog Card Number 89~2832
International Standard Book Number 0-309-04082-5
Available from:
National Academy Press
2101 Constitution Avenue
Washington, D.C. 20418
Printed in the United States of America
OCR for page R3
COMMITTEE ON SOILER PHYSICS
ROBERT ROSNER, University of Chicago, Chairman
URI FELDMAN, Naval Research Laboratory
JOFIN W. HARVEY, National Solar Observatory
HUGH S. HUDSON, University of California, San Diego
FRANCIS S. JOHNSON, University of Texas, Dallas
ROBERT M. MacQUEEN, National Center for Atmospheric Research
EUGENE N. PARKER, University of Chicago
GEORGE W. PRESTON, Mt. Wilson and Las Campanas Observatories
REUVEN RAMATY, Goddard Space Flight Center, National
Aeronautics and Space Administration
JOHN S. PERRY, Staff Director
DONALD H. HUNT, Consultant
. . -
111
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COMMISSION ON PHYSICAL SCIENCES,
MATHEMATICS, AND RESOURCES
NORMAN HACKERMAN, Robert ~ Welch Foundation, Chairman
ROBERT C. BEARDSLEY, Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution
B. CLARK BURCHFIEL, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
GEORGE F. CARRIER, Harvard University
RALPH J. CICERONE, National Center for Atmospheric Research
HERBERT D. DOAN, The Dow Chemical Company (retired)
PETER S. EAGLESON, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
DEAN E. EASTMAN, IBM T. J. Watson Research Center
MARYE ANNE FOX, University of Texas
GERHART FRIEDLANDER, Brookhaven National Laboratory
LAWRENCE W. FUNKHOUSER, Chevron Corporation (retired)
PHILLIP ~ GRIFFITHS, Duke University
NEAL F. LANE, Rice University
CHRISTOPHER F. McKEE, University of California at Berkeley
RICHARD S. NICHOLSON, American Association for the Advancement
of Science
JACK E. OLIVER, Cornell University
JEREMIAH P. OSTRIKER, Princeton University Observatory
PHILIP ~ PALMER, E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company
FRANK L. PARKER, Vanderbilt University
DENIS J. PRAGER, MacArthur Foundation
DAVID M. RAUP, University of Chicago
ROY F. SCHWI l l E;RS, Superconducting Super Collider Laboratory
LARRY L. SMARR, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
KARL K TUREKIAN, Yale University
MYRON F. UMAN, Acting Executive Director
ROBERT M. SIMON, Acting Associate Executive Director
1V
OCR for page R5
Preface
Solar physics stands in a privileged position at the crossroad be-
tween laborato~y-oriented experimental and theoretical physics and ob-
servationally oriented astrophysics. Many of the basic physical processes
thought to be relevant to the workings of astrophysical systems- including
nuclear energy sources, particle acceleration, production and excitation
of highly charged atoms, and magnetic field generation, dissipation, and
reconnection as well as the tools for studying these processes were stud-
ied and developed in the solar context before they were applied to other
problems in astrophysics.
Indeed, the history of astrophysics over the past several decades is
replete with examples of the application of both instrumental designs and
theoretical precepts transferred from the solar domain to more general
astrophysical problems. Because physical conditions in the Sun's outer lay-
ers, which reach temperatures of up to 40 million K, are not unlike those
encountered in laboratory studies of confined plasmas, the experimental
and theoretical developments in solar physics have found immediate appli-
cation in terrestrial laboratories as well. Thus the study of solar plasmas
dates from the very beginnings of plasma diagnostics as a distinct discipline.
Study of the Fraunhofer (discrete absorption line) solar spectrum, involv-
ing such great pioneers of atomic spectroscopy as G. R. Kirchhoff (who
identified the sodium D lines in the solar spectrum), and application of the
(then novel) atomic line Zeeman splitting in studies of sunspot magnetic
fields led to the key realization that spectroscopy could be used to probe
the physical condition of gases far removed from direct inspection. This
opened up the possibility of studying detailed physical processes in other-
wise inaccessible astronomical objects and laid the groundwork for much
of today's astrophysics and laboratory plasma physics.
v
OCR for page R6
This report's aim is to consider the status of solar science today.
Constituted by the National Research Council's Commission on Physical
Sciences, Mathematics, and Resources at the behest of the National Science
Foundation (NSF), the Committee on Solar Physics focused on those
aspects of solar science that fall under the purview of the NSF. The specific
charges for this committee were as follows:
1. A review of the present vitality, quality, and directions of solar
research, starting with a number of existing studies as points of departure.
2. A determination of present and future needs of the solar commu-
nity for ground-based observational facilities and instrumentation and for
related analysis and theory, with emphasis on those aspects of the needs
that are of relevance to NSF, and a determination of priorities.
3. An identification of possible institutional changes to help accom-
plish the program the committee will recommend over the long term, i.e.,
changes that might be effected to make it possible for scientists to do their
research.
Given these charges, this committee focused on those organizational
aspects of solar science that involve primarily ground-based observations.
However, because of the closely knit interactions between ground-based and
space-based solar science, some commentary on possible ways to optimize
these interactions and to improve the general health of solar science seemed
to the committee both unavoidable and perfectly appropriate.
Chapter 1 is a summary of the committee's principal findings and
recommendations. Chapter 2 provides a science overview of solar research
today. Chapter 3 focuses on the principal science opportunities and initia-
tives in the four research areas currently at the forefront of solar physics:
(1) probing the solar interior, (2) the physics at small spatial scales, (3)
mechanisms underlying the solar cycle, and (4) the physics of transients. A
discussion of institutional issues in solar physics leading to the committee's
recommendations is presented in Chapter 4.
Robert Rosner
Chairman
Committee on Solar Physics
V1
OCR for page R7
Contents
1 PRINCIPAL FINDINGS
1
2 SOLAR RESEARCH TODAY: A SCIENCE OVERVIEW 4
3 PRINCIPAL SCIENCE OPPORTUNITIES AND INITIATIVES
FOR GROUND-BASFD SOLAR RESEARCH
4 INSTITUTIONAL ISSUES AND POLICY
RECOMMENDATIONS
APPENDIXES
A The Demographics of Solar Physics
B National Science Foundation Funding for Solar Physics
C Previous Relevant National Research Council Reports
. -
V11
16
42
55
57
60
OCR for page R8
