Reversals of the Sun’s Polar Magnetic Fields in Relation to Activity Complexes and Coronal Holes

Abstract

A spatiotemporal analysis of long-term measurements of the Sun’s magnetic field was carried out to study changes in its zonal structure and reversals of the polar fields in Cycles 21 – 24. A causal relationship between activity complexes, their remnant magnetic fields, and high-latitude magnetic fields has been demonstrated in the current cycle. The appearance of unipolar magnetic regions near the poles is largely determined by the decay of long-lived activity complexes. The nonuniform distribution of sunspot activity and its north–south asymmetry result in the asymmetry of remnant fields that are transported poleward due to meridional circulation. The asymmetry of high-latitude magnetic fields leads to an asynchrony of polar-field reversals in both hemispheres. The interaction of high-latitude unipolar magnetic regions with the polar fields affects the embedded coronal holes. The evolution of large-scale magnetic fields was also studied in a time–latitude aspect. It is shown that regular reversals of the Sun’s polar fields resulted from cyclic changes in high-latitude magnetic fields. A triple polarity reversal of the polar fields in Cycle 21 and short-term polarity alternations at the poles were interpreted taking into account the interaction of the remnant fields with the Sun’s polar fields.