The umbrella effect: Magnetic canopy topology modulates spatially averaged chromospheric three-minute power
Three-minute ($\sim$5 mHz) oscillations are a prominent signature of wave propagation in the solar chromosphere, but their measured power can vary substantially between full-disc observations and small, high-resolution fields of view. We investigate whether chromospheric magnetic canopy topology, particularly its lateral continuity and areal filling, modulates field-of-view-averaged three-minute power. We analyse H$α$ and Ca II 8542 Å spectral imaging from the Swedish 1-m Solar Telescope, comparing canopy-poor quiet-Sun scenes with canopy-dominated active-region environments, complemented by radiative-MHD Bifrost simulations of canopy-poor and canopy-rich atmospheres. We compute field-of-view-averaged power spectra from fixed-wavelength intensities and bisector-derived velocities in the observations, and from synthetic intensities, velocities, and temperature proxies in the simulations. We also quantify the relation between integrated 3-5 mHz excess power and canopy filling factor, using HMI-based magnetic-field extrapolations for the observations. In both observations and simulations, canopy-poor scenes show clear 3-5 mHz power enhancements, whereas canopy-dominated scenes show strongly reduced measured power. The trend is present in H$α$ and Ca II 8542 Å intensities and is supported by complementary velocity and temperature proxies. Integrated 3-5 mHz excess power decreases with increasing canopy filling factor. We conclude that chromospheric field-of-view-averaged three-minute power is a topology-weighted observable: dense, laterally continuous magnetic canopies can strongly reduce the measured large-scale three-minute signature without requiring the absence of local wave activity. This provides a practical criterion for interpreting chromospheric oscillation power as a proxy for atmospheric wave energy in the Sun and in magnetised cool-star atmospheres.