Various Local Heating Events in the Earliest Phase of Flux Emergence

Emerging flux regions (EFRs) are known to exhibit various sporadic local heating events in the lower atmosphere. To investigate the characteristics of these events, especially to link the photospheric magnetic fields and atmospheric dynamics, we analyze Hinode, IRIS, and SDO data of a new EFR in NOAA AR 12401. Out of 151 bright points (BPs) identified in Hinode/SOT Ca images, 29 are overlapped by an SOT/SP scan. Seven BPs in the EFR center possess mixed-polarity magnetic backgrounds in the photosphere. Their IRIS UV spectra (e.g., Si IV 1402.8 A) are strongly enhanced and red- or blue-shifted with tails reaching +/- 150 km/s, which is highly suggestive of bi-directional jets, and each brightening lasts for 10 - 15 minutes leaving flare-like light curves. Most of this group show bald patches, the U-shaped photospheric magnetic loops. Another 10 BPs are found in unipolar regions at the EFR edges. They are generally weaker in UV intensities and exhibit systematic redshifts with Doppler speeds up to 40 km/s, which could exceed the local sound speed in the transition region. Both types of BPs show signs of strong temperature increase in the low chromosphere. These observational results support the physical picture that heating events in the EFR center are due to magnetic reconnection within cancelling undular fields like Ellerman bombs, while the peripheral heating events are due to shocks or strong compressions caused by fast downflows along the overlying arch filament system.