The White Light Solar Corona an Atlas of K-coronameter Synoptic Charts August 1980 - September 1981

The synoptic observing project of the High Altitude Observatory's Coronal Dynamics Program started on 5 August 1980. The data obtained during the first year of operation, roughly August 1980 through September 1981, are presented in the following text. This period of time covers 15 solar rotations (as calculated by the synodic period obtained from the observation of sunspots near the equator); and a period of time slightly longer than one calendar year was required in order that the data set be terminated in coincidence with a full Carrington rotation period. This set presented here should be regarded as a preliminary presentation in that no corrections have been made for day-to-day variations in sky transmission and scattering of polarized light by the earth's atmosphere. While there is some inaccuracy in neglecting these effects, it is still possible to use this data set as a characterization of the white light corona. Data from the east and west limbs are presented separately. This is done because transient and evolutionary changes in the white light corona substantially modify the distribution of coronal material over the 14 days between sequential limb transients.