# Flows around Averaged Solar Active Regions

## TL;DR

This study analyzes near-surface flows around solar active regions using helioseismic holography, revealing converging and retrograde flows that influence global solar flow patterns, with validation from MHD simulations.

## Contribution

It provides the first comprehensive statistical analysis of flow properties around active regions, linking local flows to global solar dynamics.

## Key findings

- Converging flows extend up to 10 degrees from active regions.
- Retrograde flows flank active regions, with ~10 m/s speeds.
- Active-region flows can influence global-scale solar flow variations.

## Abstract

We explore the general properties of near-surface flows around solar active regions. Helioseismic holography is applied to HMI Dopplergrams yielding nearly 5000 flow measurements of 336 unique active regions observed by the Solar Dynamics Observatory between 2010 and 2014. Ensemble averages of the flows, over subsets of regions sorted on the basis of magnetic flux, are performed. These averages show that converging flows, with speeds about 10 m/s and extending up to 10 degrees from the active region centers, are prevalent and have similar properties for all regions with magnetic flux above 10^21 Mx. Retrograde flows are also detected, with amplitudes around 10 m/s, which predominantly, but not exclusively, flank the polar side of the active regions. We estimate the expected contribution of these active-region flows to longitudinal averages of zonal and meridional flows and demonstrate the plausibility that they are responsible for at least some component of the time-varying global-scale flows. The reliability of our flow determination is tested using publicly available MHD simulations of both quiet-Sun convection and of a sunspot. While validating the overall methodology in general, the sunspot simulation demonstrates the presence of artifacts which may compromise quantitative flow inferences from some helioseismic measurements.