Upflows in solar active regions - producing a mix of abundances that can feed into the solar wind

HARRA, L.K.; BARCZYNSKI, K.; MANDRINI, C.H.; BROOKS, D.H.; CRISTIANI, G.D.

Chicago

Congreso; American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2022; 2022

During the Solar Orbiter perihelion on March 7 2022, Solar Orbiter observed an active region (NOAA 12960) with EUI high resolution imagers (HRI) and the Hinode EUV Imaging Spectrometer (EIS). During the high cadence HRI observations, there was a persistent blue-shifted upflow area in the active region. Similar upflows are often seen at the edges of active regions in the plage areas, and can contribute to the slow solar wind, and normally have elemental abundances corresponding to the corona. In the case of AR12960, the upflow region is located unusually close to the strong magnetic field of the sunspot umbra, dominantly in the penumbra region. We analyse both imaging and spectroscopy data, and carry out magnetic modelling to determine the source of this unusual upflow region. The abundance was determined to be of photospheric origin. The 2 second cadence, high spatial resolution HRI data allow us to explore all the small scale features and dynamics within the upflow region including small loops and small scale transients ´dots´, which are associated with regions of moving magnetic fragments in the photosphere. We discuss the nature of these flows, and the possibility that they contribute to the complex mix of abundances seen in the slow solar wind.