UNCERTAINTIES IN P-MODE POWER AND LINEWIDTH

A statistical approach implies that the commonly accepted derivation f or the stochastic variation in line power leads to a 67% underestimate . The 'lifetime' of a mode should be defined in terms of the reciproca l of the linewidth, not the e-folding time of the mode. The ratio of p ositive to negative measurement uncertainties in observed linewidth da ta is essentially constant. Modeling the distribution of the linewidth measurement values as an exponential produces self-consistent estimat es of the standard deviation, and can be useful in examining error pro pagation. The ratio of the line-power uncertainties is also nearly con stant. However, the measurement distribution is more complex. It exhib its behavior similar to an exponential, but has more components.