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Parameters of Electric Currents in Active Regions with Different Levels of Flare Productivity and Different Magnetomorphological Types

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Abstract

In this paper, the magnetic-field and electric-current parameters are calculated for a sample of 73 active regions (ARs) of solar activity cycle 24 based on magnetographic data from the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) instrument aboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). The calculated values are compared to the level of flare productivity and features of the AR morphology. The following results are obtained. (1) The imbalance of local vertical electric currents in the regions of the studied sample does not exceed a few percent (the maximum obtained value is 8.08%), in contrast to the magnetic-flux imbalance, which can reach a few tens of percent (the maximum absolute value is 82.11%). (2) The highest correlation of the calculated parameters of electric current with the level of AR flare productivity is observed for the total unsigned vertical electric current \(\overline {{{I}_{{z\,{\text{tot}}}}}} \) (a Pearson correlation coefficient of k = 0.67) and the average unsigned vertical electric current density \(\left\langle {\overline {\left| {{{j}_{z}}} \right|} } \right\rangle \) (k = 0.66), which are averaged over the AR monitoring period. (3) It is shown that the values of the electric-current parameters for the Ars in which the basic empirical laws of the Babcock–Leighton dynamo theory are violated are higher than the corresponding values of the electric current parameters for the regular ARs. This result may indicate that there is additional energy pumping by the local dynamo mechanisms in the irregular regions.

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ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

The authors are grateful to the reviewers of the paper for their interest in the study, their helpful comments, and their time.

Funding

The paper was partially supported by the Russian Science Foundation, project no. 18-12-00131, and by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Russian Federation, project no. 0831-2019-0006.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Crimean Astrophysical Observatory, Russian Academy of Sciences, 298409, Crimea, Russia

    Yu. A. Fursyak, V. I. Abramenko & A. V. Zhukova

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  1. Yu. A. Fursyak
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  2. V. I. Abramenko
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  3. A. V. Zhukova
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Correspondence to Yu. A. Fursyak.

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Translated by N. Semenova

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Fursyak, Y.A., Abramenko, V.I. & Zhukova, A.V. Parameters of Electric Currents in Active Regions with Different Levels of Flare Productivity and Different Magnetomorphological Types. Geomagn. Aeron. 61, 1197–1206 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1134/S0016793221080089

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