Various observable, such as polar field, meridional flow, and sunspot number, are examined to identify information flow, causality, and time delay between them during solar cycles. It is expected that this analysis can provide observational constraints on solar cycle models and theories.
The Sun’s surface poloidal and toroidal magnetic field were constructed for the last 4 solar cycles using observations from multiple instruments, and were then reproduced using the updated Babcock-Leighton model.
Super-synoptic map is constructed using SDO/HMI’s synoptic magnetic maps of each Carrington rotation, covering the period of May 2010 to December 2017. Polarity reversals can be clearly seen in the map.
The dipole, quadrupole, and octupole components of the Sun’s magnetic field are calculated and visualized, covering the last 22 years of the Sun’s activities.
The Sun’s meridional flow varies with the solar cycle, and this is possibly caused by the back-reaction of the dynamo-generated magnetic field on the meridional flow due to the Lorentz force.
The dipole moment observed by the WSO during the pre-minimum years of the last 4 solar cycles are used to establish a relation with the sunspot numbers of the following maximum years. The relation is then used to calculate the dipole moment for all the past cycles.