Temporal evolution of chromospheric evaporation: case studies of the M1.1 flare on 2014 September 6 and X1.6 flare on 2014 September 10

Abstract: With observations from the Interface Region Imaging Spectrograph (IRIS), we track the complete evolution of $\sim$11 MK evaporation flows in an M1.1 flare on 2014 September 6 and an X1.6 flare on 2014 September 10. These hot flows, as indicated by the blueshifted Fe~{\sc{xxi}}~1354.08\AA{}~line, evolve smoothly with a velocity decreasing exponentially from $\sim$200~km~s$^{-1}$ to almost stationary within a few minutes. We find a good correlation between the flow velocity and energy deposition rate as represented by the hard X-Ray flux observed with the Reuven Ramaty High Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI), or time derivative of the soft X-Ray flux observed with the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) and the HINODE X-ray Telescope (XRT), which is in general agreement with models of nonthermal electron heating. The maximum blue shift of Fe~{\sc{xxi}}~appears approximately at the same time as or slightly after the impulsive enhancement of the ultraviolet continuum and the Mg~{\sc{ii}}~2798.8\AA{}~line emission, demonstrating that the evaporation flow is closely related to heating of the lower chromosphere. Finally, while the hot Fe~{\sc{xxi}}~1354.08\AA{} line is entirely blueshifted with no obvious rest component, cool chromospheric and transition region lines like Si~{\sc{iv}}~1402.77\AA{} are often not entirely redshifted but just reveal an obvious red wing enhancement at the ribbons, suggesting that the speed of chromospheric condensation might be larger than previously thought.