The scientific goals of this ISSI international team are to understand the detailed physics and dynamics of ubiquitous vortex flows of any spatial and temporal scale observed in the solar atmosphere in an attempt to understand the nature of vorticity in the solar atmosphere, its association to atmospheric structuring, magnetic field and waves and the implications for heating. Therefore, to make a leap in understanding the nature and physics of solar vortex flows, we set the main scientific goals and objectives as follows:
- Investigate the coupling between solar interior, photospheric and chromospheric vorticity.
- Identify the wave modes present in small-scale and large-scale vortex motions, their relative energy budgets and their energy dissipation in higher atmospheric heights.
- Investigate the identification of small-scale torsional motions at the base of giant tornadoes.
- Look for any scaling laws with regard to vortex motions and investigate the statistical properties of these motions in the different atmospheric layers.
Pertinent to the above goals and objectives are also the following issues:
- The knowledge of the structure of such vortex flows, the characteristic vortex velocity profile within them and effectively the measurement of their rotational velocities and vorticity at different heights in the solar atmosphere.
- The detection of vortex motions and the derivation of limits on how many such rotating structures exist at any given time and how many of them are extended from the photosphere into the chromosphere and outer solar atmosphere.
- The properties of the magnetic field within vortex flows and its association to their dynamics.
- The inference of their mass density structure and, hence, the estimation of the amount of mass transfer to higher atmospheric levels by such structures.
- The exploration of the differences between available numerical codes of vortex motions and possible updates/extensions.