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SOTERIA   -- SOlar-TERrestrial Investigations and Archives 
supported by the European Community's Seventh Framework Program (FP7/2007-2013 ) under grant agreement  No. 218816 (SP1-Cooperation/1 Nov 2008 - 31 Oct 2011)

Welcome to the webpage of Work Package 2 (Photosphere)
Objectives of WP2
  • Production of the most complete sunspot databases
  • Production of the first database of continuum faculae
  • Development of the sunspot index by space-borne input
  • Publication of these new data in collaboration with WP6
  • Exploitation of these new data in solar and space-weather studies
Work description, task list and deliverables
WP2 Calendar of data and results published on-line
SOTERIA main web-page

Institutes participating in WP2

WP2 contact

University of Graz, Austria - UNIGRAZ

arnold.hanslmeier(at)uni-graz.at

Konkoly Observatory, Hungary - KO

ludmany(at)tigris.unideb.hu - WP leader

Royal Observatory, Belgium - ROB

frederic.clette(at)oma.be

Observatoire de Paris - OBSPARIS

jean-marie.malherbe(at)obspm.fr

University of Oulu, Finland - UOulu

Kalevi.Mursula(at)oulu.fi

Hvar Observatory, Coratia - HVAR

romanb(at)geof.hr

The WP2 mainly focuses on production of new data reduced both from space-borne and ground-based solar photospheric observations. The primary aim is to cover the entire SOHO-era with the most detailed data of sunspots, sunspot groups and photopheric faculae with an unprecedented temporal resolution (~1 hour). High spatial resolution ground-based images and magnetograms will also be produced and used for completion and validation of the space-borne data as well as for extension of the databases backwards in time.  The new photospheric data will be used in solar and space weather analyses.
Samples for sunspots and faculae: The triplet of images observed close in time on 4 June 2000 shows a complex of dark sunspots with bright faculae. These types of complex active regions usually produce several flares/day as this region did.

Ground-based white-light observation (08:05:22 UT) taken at Gyula Observing Station of Debrecen Observatory.
 The same part of the Sun in the SOHO/MDI continuum image (07:59:33 UT).  SOHO is a project of international cooperation between ESA and NASA.
 The same part of the SOHO/MDI line-of-sight magnetogram (07:59:03 UT) shows that there are umbrae with opposite polarities in the large common penumbra.

Minutes of the kick-off meeting of WP2