Submitted to the National Science Foundation under Cooperative Agreement No. 0946422 and Cooperative Support Agreement No. 1400450 This report is also published on the NSO Web site: http://www.nso.edu The National Solar Observatory is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY MISSION The mission of the National Solar Observatory (NSO) is to provide leadership and excellence in solar physics and related space, geophysical, and astrophysical science research and education by providing access to unique and complementary research facilities as well as innovative programs in research and education and to broaden participation in science. NSO accomplishes this mission by: providing leadership for the development of new ground-based facilities that support the scientific objectives of the solar and space physics community; advancing solar instrumentation in collaboration with university researchers, industry, and other government laboratories; providing background synoptic observations that permit solar investigations from the ground and space to be placed in the context of the variable Sun; providing research opportunities for undergraduate and graduate students, helping develop classroom activities, working with teachers, mentoring high school students, and recruiting underrepresented groups; innovative staff research. RESEARCH OBJECTIVES The broad research goals of NSO are to: o Understand the mechanisms generating solar cycles – Understand mechanisms driving the surface and interior dynamo and the creation and destruction of magnetic fields on both global and local scales. o Understand the coupling between the interior and surface – Understand the coupling between surface and interior processes that lead to irradiance variations and the build-up of solar activity. o Understand the coupling of the surface and the envelope: transient events – Understand the mechanisms of coronal heating, flares, and coronal mass ejections which lead to effects on space weather and the terrestrial atmosphere. o Explore the unknown – Explore fundamental plasma and magnetic field processes on the Sun in both their astrophysical and laboratory context. NSO FY 2016 Annual Progress Report & FY 2017 Program Plan NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY This page intentionally left blank. 1 NSO FY 2016 Annual Progress Report & FY 2017 Program Plan NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY TABLE OF CONTENTS 1 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY .................................................................................................................. 1 2 FY 2016 SCIENTIFIC RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT HIGHLIGHTS ................................... 6 2.1 Vector Magnetic Field Measurements along a Cooled Stereo-Imaged Coronal Loop ........ 6 2.2 The Possible Impact of L5 Magnetograms on Non-Potential Solar Coronal Magnetic Field Simulations ................................................................................................................ 7 2.3 Magnetometry of the Solar Chromosphere: Recent Results from the SOLIS/VSM .......... 8 2.4 Horizontal Flows in Active Regions from Ring-Diagram and Local Correlation Tracking Methods .............................................................................................................................. 9 2.5 Spectral and Imaging Observations of a White-light Solar Flare in the Mid-infrared ...... 10 3 SCIENTIFIC AND KEY MANAGEMENT STAFF ....................................................................... 11 4 SUPPORT TO THE SOLAR COMMUNITY .................................................................................. 14 4.1 Dunn Solar Telescope ....................................................................................................... 14 4.1.1 DST Instrumentation ................................................................................................... 15 4.1.2 Data Reduction Pipelines ............................................................................................. 17 4.1.3 Replacement and Upgrades ......................................................................................... 17 4.1.4 Current and Future Use of the DST ............................................................................. 17 4.1.5 Divestiture Planning .................................................................................................... 18 4.2 McMath-Pierce Solar Telescope ....................................................................................... 18 4.2.1 The Northrop Grumman Starshade Experiment .......................................................... 18 4.2.2 Divestment or Closure of the McMP ........................................................................... 19 4.3 Access to NSO Data .......................................................................................................... 19 4.3.1 Digital Library ....................................................................................................... 19 4.4.2 Virtual Solar Observatory ..................................................................................... 20 5 DKIST CONSTRUCTION AND OPERATIONS RAMP UP ......................................................... 21 5.1 Introduction ....................................................................................................................... 21 5.2 Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope: Construction Project Update ..................................... 22 5.2.1 Schedule Status ............................................................................................................ 26 5.2.2 Financial Status ............................................................................................................ 26 5.3 DKIST Operations Ramp-Up Phase: Overview ................................................................ 26 5.3.1 Data Center Development ............................................................................................ 28 5.3.2 Operational Tools ........................................................................................................ 32 5.3.3 Maui Remote Operations Building .............................................................................. 33 5.4 DKIST Science Working Group ....................................................................................... 35 NSO FY 2016 Annual Progress Report & FY 2017 Program Plan NATIONAL SOLAR OBSERVATORY 5.5 Instrumentation Development .......................................................................................... 37 5.6 DKIST Critical Science Plan Workshops ......................................................................... 40 6 NSO INTEGRATED SYNOPTIC PROGRAM ............................................................................... 42 6.1 GONG ............................................................................................................................... 42 6.1.1 GONG Refurbishment ............................................................................................. 43 6.1.2 GONG Magnetic Zeropoint .................................................................................... 43 6.1.3 Relocation of the GONG Engineering Site ............................................................. 44 6.2 SOLIS ............................................................................................................................... 44 6.2.1 SOLIS Instrument Upgrades .................................................................................... 45 6.2.2 Relocation of SOLIS ................................................................................................ 46 6.3 NISP Data Center .............................................................................................................. 47 6.3.1 New Data Center Hardware .................................................................................... 48 6.3.2 Relocation of the NISP Data Center ............................................................................... 48 6.4 NISP Science ..................................................................................................................... 48 6.5 Space Weather ................................................................................................................... 49 6.6 Towards a Multi-Purpose Global Network .............................................................. 50 7 EDUCATION AND PUBLIC OUTREACH AND BROADENING PARTICIPATION ............. 53 7.1 An Enhanced Education and Public Outreach (EPO) Program ......................................... 53 7.2 The 2017 Solar Eclipse...................................................................................................... 54 7.2.1 Citizen CATE Experiment ........................................................................................... 54 7.2.2 Know Your Sun: Preparing For the Eclipse Monthly Webcast ................................... 55 7.2.3 Eclipse Materials ......................................................................................................... 55 7.2.4 K-12 Professional Development Workshops ............................................................... 56 7.2.5 Public Talks ................................................................................................................. 56 7.2.6 Eclipse Events .............................................................................................................. 56 7.2.7