Calibration of Polarization Data for Vector Magnetographs at the Huairou Solar Observing Station over the Past Four Decades

Abstract

The Huairou Solar Observing Station (HSOS) has conducted solar vector magnetic field observations for 40 years and developed multiple vector magnetographs (including one space magnetic field observation instrument). Using these accumulated magnetic field observation data, HSOS has achieved significant progress in solar physics research, including important advancements in the helicity sign rule of solar active regions, the helicity characteristics of strong and weak magnetic fields in active regions, the chromospheric magnetic field characteristics of the Sun, the evolution of magnetic fields in active regions, and the extraction of magnetic field characteristics for flare precursors. However, due to historical reasons, the calibration of vector magnetic field data in HSOS are not standardized. Therefore, this paper summarizes past historical experiences and introduces the standardized calibration procedure for vector magnetic field processing in detail. These calibration procedures are the basic steps of the calibration process for the space vector magnetograph (Full-Disk Vector MagnetoGraph, abbreviated as FMG) observation data, and are also applicable to the calibration of other instrument observation data at HSOS. They mainly include basic processing of polarization data and in-depth processing of vector magnetic fields. We believe that such calibration processing of the historical data collected by HSOS over the past 40 years will help us to accurately measure and analyze the solar magnetic field, further revealing the laws of solar activity and its impact on the Earth’s environment.