The Role of Magnetograms in Testing Models of Coronal Mass Ejections

A general review of current and future magnetographic capabilities is presented with emphasis on how they address observational predictions of CME models (e.g., the model/observation matrix developed in the SHINE 2000 workshop). Existing line-of-sight magnetographs can observe certain structural and kinematic properties of CME source regions when they are on the visible disk. These include polarity configuration, location and structure of the magnetic inversion line, proper motions of magnetic elements, and time variation of flux. Additional chromospheric magnetograms provide information on how the field spreads with height and, if properly sequenced with photospheric magnetograms, can determine whether flux is emerging or submerging. Vector magnetographs can provide information about currents and magnetic shear but will only begin to attain the spatial and temporal coverage appropriate to CMEs with the advent of the SOLIS vector spectromagnetograph and, hopefully, its copies at several widely spaced longitudes. Important additions to the SHINE 2000 matrix are required to define an observational program. These include spatial and temporal resolutions and extents as well as needed sensitivity.