Journal
SOLAR PHYSICS
Volume 260, Issue 1, Pages 83-108Publisher
SPRINGER
DOI: 10.1007/s11207-009-9440-8
Keywords
Data analysis; Polarimetry; Sun: magnetic field; Sun: observations
Categories
Funding
- NASA/LWS [NNH05CC49C, NNH05C75C, NNM07AB07CC, NAS5-02139]
- NWRA
- Science and Technology Facilities Council [PP/D002907/1, ST/H000429/1] Funding Source: researchfish
- STFC [ST/H000429/1, PP/D002907/1] Funding Source: UKRI
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The objective testing of algorithms for performing ambiguity resolution in vector magnetic field data is continued, with an examination of the effects of noise in the data. Through the use of analytic magnetic field models, two types of noise are added prior to resolving: noise to simulate Poisson photon noise in the observed polarization spectra, and a spatial binning to simulate the effects of unresolved structure. The results are compared through the use of quantitative metrics and performance maps. We find that while no algorithm severely propagates the effects of Poisson noise beyond very local influences, some algorithms are more robust against high photon-noise levels than others. In the case of limited spatial resolution, loss of information regarding fine-scale structure can easily result in erroneous solutions. Our tests imply that photon noise and limited spatial resolution can act so as to make assumptions used in some ambiguity resolution algorithms no longer consistent with the observed magnetogram. We confirm a finding of the earlier comparison study that results can be very sensitive to the details of the treatment of the observed boundary and the assumptions governing that treatment. We discuss the implications of these findings, given the relative sensitivities of the algorithms to the two sources of noise tested here. We also touch on further implications for interpreting observational vector magnetic field data for general solar physics research.
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