Correlations between CME parameters and sunspot activity

TL;DR

This study analyzes the relationships between CME parameters and sunspot activity during Solar Cycle 23, revealing high correlations and proposing an integral response model with decay time scales to better understand solar magnetic energy accumulation.

Contribution

It introduces an integral response model with decay time scales to describe CME-sunspot activity relationships more accurately than linear correlations.

Findings

High correlation between CME parameters and sunspot number.

The integral response model with decay scales improves correlation coefficients.

CME parameters are related to the accumulation of solar magnetic energy.

Abstract

Smoothed monthly mean coronal mass ejection (CME) parameters (speed, acceleration, central position angle, angular width, mass and kinetic energy) for Cycle 23 are cross-analyzed, showing a high correlation between most of them. The CME acceleration (a) is found to be highly correlated with the reciprocal of its mass (M), with a correlation coefficient r = 0:899. The force (Ma) to drive a CME is found to be well anti-correlated with the sunspot number (Rz), r = -0.750. The relationships between CME parameters and Rz can be well described by an integral response model with a decay time scale of about 11 months. The correlation coefficients of CME parameters with the reconstructed series based on this model (r1 = 0.886) are higher than the linear correlation coefficients of the parameters with Rz (r0 = 0.830). If a double decay integral response model is used (with two decay time scales of about 6 and 60 months), the correlations between CME parameters and Rz improve (r2 = 0.906). The time delays between CME parameters with respect to Rz are also well predicted by this model (19/22 = 86%); the average time delays are 19 months for the reconstructed and 22 months for the original time series. The model implies that CMEs are related to the accumulation of solar magnetic energy. The relationships found can help to understand the mechanisms at work during the solar cycle.