Rotational quasi periodicities and the Sun - heliosphere connection

TL;DR

This study investigates the quasi-periodicities near the solar rotation period in various solar and heliospheric data, revealing persistent modes and their connection to the Sun's subsurface dynamo over multiple decades.

Contribution

It extends previous analyses of solar quasi-periodicities by identifying two dominant, independent modes that rotate rigidly with the Sun and are linked to the subsurface dynamo.

Findings

Dominant ~27.0 day period in Earth's magnetic data.

Two independent modes in solar magnetic fields rotating rigidly.

Mode periods vary across solar cycles, e.g., 26.45 days in cycle 23.

Abstract

Mutual quasi-periodicities near the solar-rotation period appear in time series based on the Earth's magnetic field, the interplanetary magnetic field, and signed solar-magnetic fields. Dominant among these is one at 27.03 +/- 0.02 days that has been highlighted by Neugebauer, et al. 2000, J. Geophys. Res., 105, 2315. Extension of their study in time and to different data reveals decadal epochs during which the ~ 27.0 day, a ~ 28.3 day, or other quasi-periods dominate the signal. Space-time eigenvalue analyses of time series in 30 solar latitude bands, based on synoptic maps of unsigned photospheric fields, lead to two maximally independent modes that account for almost 30% of the data variance. One mode spans 45 degrees of latitude in the northern hemisphere and the other one in the southern. The modes rotate around the Sun rigidly, not differentially, suggesting connection with the subsurface dynamo. Spectral analyses yield familiar dominant quasi periods 27.04 +/- 0.03 days in the North and at 28.24 +/- 0.03 days in the South. These are replaced during cycle 23 by one at 26.45 +/- 0.03 days in the North. The modes show no tendency for preferred longitudes separated by ~ 180 degrees.