The revised Brussels-Locarno Sunspot Number (1981-2015)

TL;DR

This paper reconstructs a revised Sunspot Number series from 1981 to 2015, analyzing station data, scale variations, and the relation with Group Number, to improve the consistency and accuracy of solar activity indices.

Contribution

It introduces a new, extended Sunspot Number series using long-term station data, and explores station groupings for future multi-station reference standards.

Findings

Confirmed variable trends of the Locarno pilot station.

Validated the scale correction factor for 1981-2015.

Identified station subsets with similar calibration factors.

Abstract

In 1981, the production of the international Sunspot Number moved from the Z\"{u}rich Observatory to the Royal Observatory of Belgium, marking a very important transition in the history of the Sunspot Number. Those recent decades are particularly important for linking recent modern solar indices and fluxes and the past Sunspot Number series. However, large variations have been recently identified in the scale of the Sunspot Number between 1981 and the present. Here, we reconstruct a new average Sunspot Number series $S_N$ using long-duration stations between 1981 and 2015. We also extend this reconstruction using long-time series from 35 stations over 1945-2015, which includes the 1981 transition. In both reconstructions, we also derive a parallel Group Number series $G_N$. Our results confirm the variable trends of the Locarno pilot station. We also verify the scale of the resulting 1981-2015 correction factor relative to the preceding period 1945--1980. By comparing the new $S_N$ and $G_N$ series, we find that a constant quadratic relation exists between those two indices. This proxy relation leads to a fully constant and cycle-independent $S_N/G_N$ ratio over cycles 19 to 23, with the exception of cycle 24. We find a very good agreement between our reconstructed $G_N$ and the new "backbone" Group Number but inhomogeneities in the original Group Number as well as the $F_{10.7}$ radio flux and the American sunspot number $R_a$. This analysis opens the way to the implementation of a more advanced method for producing the Sunspot Number in the future. In particular, we identify the existence of distinct subsets of observing stations sharing very similar personal k factors, which may be a key element for building a future multi-station reference in place of the past single pilot station.