Correlative Study of Sunspot Number with Interplanetary Magnetic Field During Solar Cycle 24
Keywords:
Sunspot number, Interplanetary magnetic field, Solar cycle 24, Solar activity, Heliospheric magnetic field, Solar wind, Space weatherAbstract
The structure and dynamics of the heliosphere are determined by the solar magnetic activity that has a powerful impact on the near space conditions around the Earth. The sunspots number is a commonly used measure of the magnetic activity of the solar surface and the interplanetary magnetic field is the measure of the extension of this activity into space in the form of the solar wind.In this paper, a correlative study of sunspots numbers (SSN) and the magnitude of the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) is provided, with regard to the Solar cycle 24 (2008-2019), which has been marked by exceptionally low magnetic activity. The correlation between the solar surface magnetic activity and the heliospheric magnetic conditions around the earth was studied by comparing monthly mean sunspot numbers of SILSO database and interplanetary magnetic field data of OMNI database. Time-analysis comparison of SSN and IMF reveals that both are affected by solar cycle variations, with an even stronger IMF strength usually being observed when the sunspots are active. The variability of IMF has however very large short-term oscillations at the solar maximum, and declining phases, which suggests the effects of transient and recurring solar wind structures. The statistical analysis done on the basis of Pearson correlation coefficient shows a moderate positive correlation between SSN and IMF magnitude during the whole cycle. Phase-wise analysis indicates a higher correlation in rising phase and lower correspondence in the maximum and declining phases owing to growth in the contribution of coronal mass ejections and high-speed streams of the solar wind. Such findings imply that although the sunspots numbers continue to be one of the most important indicators of the solar magnetic activity, the behavior of interplanetary magnetic fields is also dictated by the large-scale processes taking place in the heliosphere particularly during the weak cycles. The results also help in understanding solar-interplanetary coupling better, and have significant implications on the modeling of the heliosphere as well as space weather prediction.
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