Abstract
We study the solar-cycle variation of the zonal flow in the near-surface layers of the solar convection zone from the surface to a depth of 16 Mm covering the period from mid-2001 to mid-2013 or from the maximum of Cycle 23 through the rising phase of Cycle 24. We have analyzed Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG) and Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) Dopplergrams with a ring-diagram analysis. The zonal flow varies with the solar cycle showing bands of faster-than-average flows equatorward of the mean latitude of activity and slower-than-average flows on the poleward side. The fast band of the zonal flow and the magnetic activity appear first in the northern hemisphere during the beginning of Cycle 24. The bands of fast zonal flow appear at mid-latitudes about three years in the southern and four years in the northern hemisphere before magnetic activity of Cycle 24 is present. This implies that the flow pattern is a direct precursor of magnetic activity. The solar-cycle variation of the zonal flow also has a poleward branch, which is visible as bands of faster-than-average zonal flow near 50° latitude. This band appears first in the southern hemisphere during the rising phase of the Cycle 24 and migrates slowly poleward. These results are in good agreement with corresponding results from global helioseismology.
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Acknowledgements
The data used here are courtesy of NASA/SDO and the HMI Science Team. We thank the HMI team members for their hard work. This work also utilizes GONG data obtained by the NSO Integrated Synoptic Program (NISP), managed by the National Solar Observatory, which is operated by the Association of Universities for Research in Astronomy (AURA), Inc. under a cooperative agreement with the National Science Foundation. The ring-fitting analysis is based on algorithms developed by Haber, Hindman, and Larsen with support from NASA and Stanford University. We thank the referee for helpful comments. This work was supported by NASA grant NNX11AQ57G to the National Solar Observatory. RH acknowledges computing support from the National Solar Observatory, and the Leverhulme trust for funding the “Probing the Sun: inside and out” project upon which this research is partly based.
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The Many Scales of Solar Activity in Solar Cycle 24 as seen by SDO
Guest Editors: Aaron Birch, Mark Cheung, Andrew Jones, and W. Dean Pesnell
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Komm, R., Howe, R., González Hernández, I. et al. Solar-Cycle Variation of Subsurface Zonal Flow. Sol Phys 289, 3435–3455 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-014-0490-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-014-0490-1