Evaluating Non-LTE Spectral Inversions with ALMA and IBIS

We present observations of a solar magnetic network region in the millimeter continuum with the Atacama Large Millimeter/submillimeter Array (ALMA) and in the Ca 8542 and Na 5896 angstrom spectral lines with the Interferometric Bidimensional Spectrometer (IBIS). Our goal is to compare the measurement of local gas temperatures provided by ALMA with the temperature diagnostics provided by non-LTE inversions using the STockholm inversion Code (STiC). In performing these inversions, we find that using column mass as the reference height scale, rather than optical depth, provides more reliable atmospheric profiles above the temperature minimum and that the treatment of non-LTE hydrogen ionization brings the inferred chromospheric temperatures into better agreement with the ALMA measurements. The Band 3 brightness temperatures are higher but well correlated spatially with the inversion-derived temperatures at the height of formation of the Ca 8542 line core. The Band 6 temperatures instead do not show good correlations with the temperatures at any specific layer in the inverted atmospheres. We then performed inversions that included the millimeter-continuum intensities as an additional constraint. Incorporating Band 3 generally resulted in atmospheres showing a strong temperature rise in the upper atmosphere, while including Band 6 led to significant regions of anomalously low temperatures at chromospheric heights. This is consistent with the idea that the Band 6 emission can come from a combination of heights ranging from the temperature minimum to upper chromosphere. The poor constraints on the chromospheric electron density with existing inversion codes introduces difficulties in determining the height(s) of formation of the millimeter continuum as well as uncertainties in the temperatures derived from the spectral lines.

Automated summary

In this study, observations of a solar magnetic network region using ALMA and IBIS were presented. The measurements of local gas temperatures provided by ALMA were compared with the temperature diagnostics provided by non-LTE inversions using STiC. The use of column mass as the reference height scale and the treatment of non-LTE hydrogen ionization improved the accuracy of atmospheric profiles and the agreement between inferred chromospheric temperatures and ALMA measurements. However, the poor constraints on chromospheric electron density introduced uncertainties in determining the height(s) of formation of the millimeter continuum and the temperatures derived from spectral lines.