North/South Hemispheric Periodicities in the >25 MeV Solar Proton Event Rate During the Rising and Peak Phases of Solar Cycle 24

TL;DR

This study identifies persistent six-month periodicities in >25 MeV solar proton events during Solar Cycle 24, linked to hemispheric solar activity and possibly related to known solar periodicities, challenging existing models of solar magnetism.

Contribution

It provides the first clear evidence of hemispheric six-month periodicities in high-energy solar proton events during Solar Cycle 24, highlighting independent hemispheric development.

Findings

Six-month periodicities in SEP event rates are evident in each hemisphere.

SEP event rates closely follow hemispheric sunspot activity.

Periodicities are associated with other solar phenomena, indicating episodic cycle development.

Abstract

We present evidence that $>25$ MeV solar proton events show a clustering in time at intervals of $\approx$ six months that persisted during the rising and peak phases of Solar Cycle 24. This phenomenon is most clearly demonstrated by considering events originating in the northern or southern solar hemispheres separately. We examine how these variations in the solar energetic particle (SEP) event rate are related to other phenomena, such as hemispheric sunspot numbers and areas, rates of coronal mass ejections, and the mean solar magnetic field. Most obviously, the SEP event rate closely follows the sunspot number and area in the same hemisphere. The $\approx$ six-month variations are associated with features in many of the other parameters we examine, indicating that they are just one signature of the episodic development of Cycle 24. They may be related to the "$\approx$150~day" periodicities reported in various solar and interplanetary phenomena during previous solar cycles. The clear presence of $\approx$six-month periodicities in Cycle 24 that evolve independently in each hemisphere conflicts with a scenario suggested by McIntosh et al. (2015, Nature Com. 6, 6491) for the variational time scales of solar magnetism.