Joint Research Activities
The following joint research activities will be carried out to improve the service provided by owners/operators of research infrastructures for research on solar physics:
WP50. Tools for Innovative Data Handling: Pipelines, Databases & SVO
Develop data-reduction pipelines for the most important European ground-based high resolution solar instruments. Enhancement of observational procedures for increased productivity and easier coobserving and combination of data. The pipelines will produce data and meta-data fulfilling the requirements of a Solar Virtual Observatory (SVO). A SVO archive prototype will be implemented.
WP60. Advanced Instrumentation Development
Development of instrumentation to improve the existing solar telescopes and with possible application to the future large aperture solar telescopes. The instrumentation developments included in this WP are the following: large diameter FPIs (100 to 300mm), image slicer for 2D spectroscopy, microlens-fed spectrograph and Fast Imaging Polarimeter.
WP60.2 Image Slicers for 2D spectroscopy
The objective is to develop a prototype of an Integral Field Unit (IFU) based on an image slicer optimized for GRIS, the infrared spectrograph of GREGOR telescope, to make solar observations and validate the concept for the EST instrumentation. The image slicer reorganizes a 2-D field of view of 24.5 arcsec2 into a slit of 66.8 arcsec by 0.37 arcsec. IAC and Winlight Optics work together… For more details, click here.
WP70. Wavefront Control: Turbulence Characterization and Correction
Investigation of the effects of air turbulence produced in the atmosphere and at the telescope environment on the wavefront distortion at solar telescopes and implement techniques to reduce and correct the wavefront distortion in order to improve the performance of existing solar telescopes and to optimize the design of the future large aperture solar telescopes.
WP70.1 Adaptive optics
WP70.1.1 Multiconjugate Adaptive Optics (MCAO) Simulations
MCAO Simulations: End-to-end simulations of the EST MCAO system are in progress to analyze the performance for a large range of elevations and depending on the asterism geometry, number and height of DMs, in order to find the best system configuration… For more details, click here.
Deformable Mirrors Order: There are two options to place deformable mirrors (DMs) in the optical train of a MCAO system: (a) correcting the layers in the same order as they are optically conjugated ("direct correction") and (b) correcting the layers in the inverse order to conjugation ("inverse correction"). A total cancellation of phase and amplitude is only achieved in the latter case… For more details, click here.
WP70.2 Atmospheric seeing
The long-baseline SHABAR (SHadow BAnd Ranger) instrument is a daytime seeing monitor which aim is to characterize the daytime turbulence distribution in atmospheric layers at different heights above the site where it is deployed. There are two functional long-baseline SHABARs in operation in the Canary Islands at present. They are usually deployed in two different sites: one in Observatorio del Teide (OT), in Tenerife island, and one in Observatorio del Roque de los Muchachos (ORM), in La Palma island… For more details, click here.
WP70.3 Local seeing
WP70.3.1 Application of CFD techniques to the local seeing optimization
EST Thermal Analysis: Transient analysis are performed during 48 hours in order to get the temperature distributions at the dome, pier, building and floor of the EST, in different moments of the day (morning, noon and afternoon), in summer with a wind speed of 5m/s at OT (Teide Observatory) in different configurations… For more details, click here.
CFD Simulations consist in computing pressures, temperatures and velocities at all points of the computational domain and at all-time instants. From these, average mechanical and thermal rates of dissipation depending on the turbulence model used are calculated. Then Cn2 distribution is determined and the degradation of local seeing. The calculations are applied to the environment of EST….The first objective is to compare the results of two different turbulence models… For more details, click here.
EST Structural Analysis: During the first Conceptual Design Study of EST Project (2008-2011), several alternatives for the Telescope Structure were considered, more particularly Gantry and Rocking-Chair models were developed. The objectives of the current study (2014-2015) are to carry on with the structural analysis and close the telescope structure trade-off, then optimize the structural concept chosen in order to meet the scientific requirements… For more details click here.
WP80. Synoptic Observations: Solar Physics Research Integrated Network Group (SPRING)
The top-level science objectives of this WP are to understand: the physical origins of the solar activity cycle; the interaction of the p-mode oscillations and the solar magnetic field; the formation, growth, decay and disappearance of active regions; the connections of the solar magnetic field from the interior to the corona; the mechanisms of coronal mass ejections (CMEs), erupting filaments, flares, and other phenomena that can affect terrestrial technology and society; the variations in solar irradiance that may affect terrestrial climate.
We will test and refine the theory of stellar structure and evolution, to explore the solar-stellar connections, and to provide an Earth vantage point for stereoscopic science in combination with future space observatories. Since the objectives of this WP are broad, substantial international collaboration is foreseen to accomplish the goals.