2008/03/06 by Laurent Gizon, L. Gizon, M. Rempel +1 · 1 citation
Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology · Physics and Astronomy · #Geomagnetism and Paleomagnetism Studies #Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics #Solar and Space Plasma Dynamics #astro-ph
paper · pdf · doi:10.1007/s11207-008-9162-3
To be published in Solar Physcis Topical Issue "Helioseismology, Asteroseismology, and MHD Connections"
arxiv created 2008/03/06 · openalex publication_date 2008/03/29 · arxiv updated 2009/12/01 · openalex created_date 2016/06/24 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/28
We present independent observations of the solar-cycle variation of flows near the solar surface and at a depth of about 60 Mm, in the latitude range ± 45°. We show that the time-varying components of the meridional flow at these two depths have opposite sign, whereas the time-varying components of the zonal flow are in phase. This is in agreement with previous results. We then investigate whether the observations are consistent with a theoretical model of solar-cycle-dependent meridional circulation based on a flux-transport dynamo combined with a geostrophic flow caused by increased radiative loss in the active region belt (the only existing quantitative model). We find that the model and the data are in qualitative agreement, although the amplitude of the solar-cycle variation of the meridional flow at 60 Mm is underestimated by the model.