High-precision spectral inversions: Determining what is important for the accurate definition of incident radiation boundary conditions

Abstract

Context. Spectral inversions are used to analyse spectroscopic observations with the aim of deriving the physical properties of the observed plasma, such as the kinetic temperature, density, pressure, degree of ionisation, or macroscopic velocities. One of the key factors ensuring the high precision of the derived plasma properties is having accurately defined input parameters of the models on which spectral inversions rely. The illumination, which chromospheric and coronal structures receive from the solar surface (and corona), is one of the most crucial input parameters of these models. Aims. We do not perform spectral inversions in this work. Our aim is to study two important factors that contribute to the accurate definition of the incident radiation boundary conditions: the altitude above the solar surface and the dynamics of the illuminated plasma. This investigation takes into account a diverse range of solar structures from the high-rising eruptive prominences to low-lying spicules. Methods. To study the influence of the altitude and dynamics of the observed plasma on the incident radiation boundary conditions, we used geometrical principles valid for any spectral line. However, to demonstrate the strong impact of dynamics, we considered the specific case of narrow spectral lines of Mg II H&K, which are highly sensitive to the presence of velocities. Results. We argue that the altitude of the illuminated plasma strongly influences the way we need to define the incident radiation boundary conditions to achieve the most accurate results. For low-lying structures, generally below 50 000 km, the incident radiation may need to be specified directly from the composition of the portion of the solar disc that illuminates them. For high-altitude structures, generally above 300 000 km, the fraction of the solar disc illuminating the analysed plasma is large enough to be realistically approximated by the composition of the entire disc. We also show that for the narrow spectral lines, such as the Mg II H&K lines, the impact of dynamics on the incident radiation intensity and profile shapes starts from radial velocities of 30 km s−1. Such velocities are even exhibited by the fine structures of quiescent prominences and are easily exceeded in spicules or eruptive prominences. Conclusions. The two aspects of the incident radiation definition studied here are relevant for spectral inversions based on any kind of modelling approach. However, their impact on the precision of the results of spectral inversions is likely less significant than the impact of the choice of the complexity of the model geometry, for example.