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Register a new userEvolutionary aspects and north-south asymmetry of soft X-ray flare index during solar cycles 21, 22, and 23
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Bhuwan Joshi
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Aims. In this paper, we investigate the temporal evolution and north-south (N-S) asymmetry in the occurrence of solar flares during cycle 21, 22, and 23, and compare the results with traditional solar activity indices. Methods. The flare activity is characterized by a soft X-ray (SXR) flare index, which incorporates information about flare occurrences during a selected interval along with the peak intensity of individual events. Results. The SXR flare index correlates well with other conventional parameters of solar activity. Further, it exhibits a significantly higher correlation with sunspot area over sunspot number, which suggests the variations in sunspot area to be more closely linked with the transient energy release in the solar corona. The cumulative plots of the flare index indicate a slight excess of activity in the northern hemisphere during cycle 21, while a southern excess clearly prevails for cycles 22 and 23. The study reveals a significant N-S asymmetry, which exhibits variations with the phases of solar cycle. The reliability and persistency of this asymmetry significantly increases when the data is averaged over longer periods, while an optimal level is achieved when data is binned for 13 Carrington rotations. The time evolution of the flare index further confirms evolution of dual peaks in solar cycles during the solar maxima and violation of Gnevyshev-Ohl rule for the pair of solar cycles 22 and 23. Conclusions. The SXR flare index in the northern and the southern hemispheres of the Sun exhibits significant asymmetry during the evolutionary phases of the solar cycle, which implies that N-S asymmetry of solar flares is manifested in terms of the flare counts as well as the intensity of flare events.
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In this paper the N-S asymmetry of the soft X-ray flare index during the solar cycles 21, 22 and 23 has been analyzed. The results show the existence of a real N-S asymmetry which is strengthened during solar minimum. The slope of the regression lines fitted to the daily values of asymmetry time series has been found to be negative in all the three cycles. The yearly asymmetry curve can be fitted by a sinusoidal function with a period of eleven years. The power spectral analysis of daily asymmetry time series reveals the significant periods of around 28.26 days, 550.73 days and 3.72 years.
We have analyzed the intermediate term periodicities in soft X-ray flare index ($FI_{SXR}$) during solar cycles 21, 22 and 23. Power spectral analysis of daily $FI_{SXR}$ reveals a significant period of 161 days in cycle 21 which is absent during cycle 22 and 23. We have found that in cycle 22 periodicities of 74 and 83 days are in operation. A 123 day periodicity has been found to be statistically significant during the part of the current solar cycle 23. The existence of these periodicities has been discussed in the light of earlier results.
Rieger-type periodicity has been detected in different activity indices over many solar cycles. It was recently shown that the periodicity correlates with solar activity having a shorter period during stronger cycles. Solar activity level is generally asymmetric between northern and southern hemispheres, which could suggest the presence of a similar behavior in the Rieger-type periodicity. We analyse the sunspot area/number and the total magnetic flux data for northern and southern hemispheres during solar cycles 19-23 which had remarkable north-south asymmetry. Using wavelet analysis of sunspot area and number during the north-dominated cycles (19-20) we obtained the periodicity of 160-165 days in the stronger northern hemisphere and 180-190 days in the weaker southern hemisphere. On the other hand, south-dominated cycles (21-23) display the periodicity of 155-160 days in the stronger southern hemisphere and 175-188 days in the weaker northern hemisphere. Therefore, the Rieger-type periodicity has the north-south asymmetry in sunspot area/number data during solar cycles with strong hemispheric asymmetry. We suggest that the periodicity is caused by magnetic Rossby waves in the internal dynamo layer. Using the dispersion relation of magnetic Rossby waves and observed Rieger periodicity we estimated the magnetic field strength in the layer as 45-49 kG in more active hemispheres (north during the cycles 19-20 and south during the cycles 21-23) and 33-40 kG in weaker hemispheres. The estimated difference in the hemispheric field strength is around 10 kG, which provides a challenge for dynamo models. Total magnetic flux data during the cycle 20-23 reveals no clear north-south asymmetry which needs to be explained in the future.
The Suns polar magnetic fields change their polarity near the maximum of sunspot activity. We analyzed the polarity reversal epochs in Solar Cycles 21 to 24. There was a triple reversal in the N-hemisphere in Solar Cycle 24 and single reversals in the rest of cases. Epochs of the polarity reversal from measurements of the Wilcox Solar Observatory (WSO) are compared with ones when the reversals were completed in the N- and S-hemispheres. The reversal times were compared with hemispherical sunspot activity and with the Heliospheric Current Sheet (HCS) tilts, too. It was found that reversals occurred at the epoch of the sunspot activity maximum in Cycles 21 and 23, and after the corresponding maxima in Cycles 22 and 24, and one-two years after maximal HCS tilts calculated in WSO. Reversals in Solar Cycles 21, 22, 23, and 24 were completed first in the N-hemisphere and then in the S-hemisphere after 0.6, 1.1, 0.7, and 0.9 years, respectively. The polarity inversion in the near-polar latitude range pm(55-90)^circ occurred from 0.5 to 2.0 years earlier that the times when the reversals were completed in corresponding hemisphere. Using the maximal smoothed WSO polar field as precursor we estimated that amplitude of Solar Cycle 25 will reach 116 pm 12 in values of smoothed monthly sunspot numbers and will be comparable with the current cycle amplitude equaled to 116.4.
Using data from the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellites (GOES) spacecraft in the 1-8 AA wavelength range for Solar Cycles 23, 24, and part of Cycles 21 and 22, we compare mean temporal parameters (rising, decay times, duration) and the proportion of impulsive short-duration events (SDE) and gradual long-duration events (LDE) among C- and $geq$M1.0-class flares. It is found that the fraction of the SDE $geq$M1.0-class flares (including spikes) in Cycle 24 exceeds that in Cycle 23 in all three temporal parameters at the maximum phase and in the decay time during the ascending cycle phase. However, Cycles 23 and 24 barely differ in the fraction of the SDE C-class flares. The temporal parameters of SDEs, their fraction, and consequently the relationship between the SDE and LDE flares do not remain constant, but they reveal regular changes within individual cycles and during the transition from one cycle to another. In all phases of all four cycles, these changes have the character of pronounced, large-amplitude quasi-biennial oscillations (QBOs). In different cycles and at the separate phases of individual cycles, such QBOs are superimposed on various systematic trends displayed by the analyzed temporal flare parameters. In Cycle 24, the fraction of the SDE $geq$M1.0-class flares from the N- and S-hemispheres displays the most pronounced synchronous QBOs. The QBO amplitude and general variability of the intense $geq$M1.0-class flares almost always markedly exceeds those of the moderate C-class flares. The ordered quantitative and qualitative variations of the flare type revealed in the course of the solar cycles are discussed within the framework of the concept that the SDE flares are associated mainly with small sunspots (including those in developed active regions) and that small and large sunspots behave differently during cycles and form two distinct populations.
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