R. J. Rutten - Böcker

Solar physics in India has a tradition that can be traced to the setting up of the Kodaikanal Observatory in 1899 when the Madras Observatory was relocated to a high altitude site with a view to initiate observations of the sun. This conference on Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the Atmosphere of the Sun during 2–5 December 2008 was planned to coincide with centenary of the Evershed effect discovery at Kodaikanal in 1909. The aim of this meeting was to bring to a critical focus a comprehensive - derstanding of the important issues pertaining to solar magnetism with particular emphasis on the various MHD processes that operate in the solar atmosphere. The current status of magnetic eld measurements and their implications in the light of recenttheoriesandnumericalmodelingthataddressthe fundamentalscalesandp- cessesinthehighlymagnetizedturbulentplasmawerereviewedduringthismeeting. The meeting was timely for the following reasons: Space observations such as from SOHO and TRACE have provided a wealth of multiwavelength observations onprocessesoccurringinregionsofthe atmosphereextendingfromthe photosphere up to the outer corona. With the launch of Hinode and STEREO in 2006 and of SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) shortly, this conference provided a platform for in-depth discussions on new results from various space missions as well as a comparison with ground-based observing facilities such as the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Using sophisticated image processing techniques, such telescopes r- tinelygenerateobservationswitharesolutionbetterthan0. 1arcsec,therebyyielding more informative diagnostics for instance of the microstructure of ux tubes.

Solar physics in India has a tradition that can be traced to the setting up of the Kodaikanal Observatory in 1899 when the Madras Observatory was relocated to a high altitude site with a view to initiate observations of the sun. This conference on Magnetic Coupling between the Interior and the Atmosphere of the Sun during 2–5 December 2008 was planned to coincide with centenary of the Evershed effect discovery at Kodaikanal in 1909. The aim of this meeting was to bring to a critical focus a comprehensive - derstanding of the important issues pertaining to solar magnetism with particular emphasis on the various MHD processes that operate in the solar atmosphere. The current status of magnetic eld measurements and their implications in the light of recenttheoriesandnumericalmodelingthataddressthe fundamentalscalesandp- cessesinthehighlymagnetizedturbulentplasmawerereviewedduringthismeeting. The meeting was timely for the following reasons: Space observations such as from SOHO and TRACE have provided a wealth of multiwavelength observations onprocessesoccurringinregionsofthe atmosphereextendingfromthe photosphere up to the outer corona. With the launch of Hinode and STEREO in 2006 and of SDO (Solar Dynamics Observatory) shortly, this conference provided a platform for in-depth discussions on new results from various space missions as well as a comparison with ground-based observing facilities such as the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope. Using sophisticated image processing techniques, such telescopes r- tinelygenerateobservationswitharesolutionbetterthan0. 1arcsec,therebyyielding more informative diagnostics for instance of the microstructure of ux tubes.

Observations of the solar magnetic field are largely confined to the radiation emitted from the photosphere, the thin layer of the solar atmosphere which we call "the solar surface". It is from solar surface observations that we must infer the internal structure and the internal magnetohydrodynamic processes that lead to the multitude of fascinat­ ing phenomena of solar magnetic activity, and from solar surface observations we must also infer the interplay of convection and magnetism that regulates field dispersal, drives the heating of the outer-atmospheric plasma, and generates the solar wind. There is much to be learned from solar surface magnetism in physics and astrophysics; currently, there are rapid developments in this exciting field. The workshop of which this volume contains the proceedings aimed at a synthesis between observers and theorists, both with regard to the discrete elements that are the building blocks of solar magnetism and with regard to the larger-scale spatial and temporal patterns in which the magnetic elements emerge and disappear. The workshop was held during November 1-5, 1993 in Soesterberg, The Netherlands. The fifty participants took a very active part in making the workshop quite a lively one. The articles in these proceedings cover most of the oral and poster presentations, excepting a dozen soon to be published elsewhere.