  Large and magnetically complex sunspot groups are known to be associated with
flares. To date, the Mount Wilson scheme has been used to classify sunspot
groups based on their morphological and magnetic properties. The most flare
prolific class, the delta sunspot-group, is characterised by opposite polarity
umbrae within a common penumbra, separated by less than 2 degrees. In this
article, we present a new system, called the Solar Monitor Active Region
Tracker - Delta Finder (SMART-DF), that can be used to automatically detect and
classify magnetic deltas in near-realtime. Using continuum images and
magnetograms from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) onboard NASA's
Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO), we first estimate distances between opposite
polarity umbrae. Opposite polarity pairs having distances of less that 2
degrees are then identified, and if these pairs are found to share a common
penumbra, they are identified as a magnetic delta configuration. The algorithm
was compared to manual delta detections reported by the Space Weather
Prediction Center (SWPC), operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric
Administration (NOAA). SMART-DF detected 21 out of 23 active regions (ARs) that
were marked as delta spots by NOAA during 2011 - 2012 (within +/- 60 degrees
longitude). SMART-DF in addition detected five ARs which were not announced as
delta spots by NOAA. The near-relatime operation of SMART-DF resulted in many
deltas being identified in advance of NOAA's daily notification. SMART-DF will
be integrated with SolarMonitor (www.solarmonitor.org) and the near-realtime
information will be available to the public.
