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The hemispheric variation of the flare index during solar cycles 20–23
Author(s) -
Deng L.H.,
Qu Z.Q.,
Liu T.,
Wang K.R.
Publication year - 2013
Publication title -
astronomische nachrichten
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.394
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1521-3994
pISSN - 0004-6337
DOI - 10.1002/asna.201111786
Subject(s) - northern hemisphere , solar flare , flare , southern hemisphere , variation (astronomy) , atmospheric sciences , index (typography) , solar cycle , astrophysics , solar cycle 23 , physics , climatology , astronomy , geology , solar wind , world wide web , computer science , quantum mechanics , magnetic field
In this paper, the monthly counts of flare index in the northern and southern hemispheres are used to investigate the hemispheric variation of the flare index in each of solar cycles 20–23. It is found that, (1) the flare index is asymmetrically distributed in each solar cycle and its asymmetry is a real phenomenon; (2) the flare index in the northern hemisphere begins earlier than that in the southern hemisphere in each of solar cycles 20–23, and the phase shifts between the two hemispheres show an odd‐even pattern; (3) although the flare index dominating in a hemisphere does not mean that it leads in phase in this hemisphere in individual solar cycle, these two features have an intrinsic relationship. (© 2013 WILEY‐VCH Verlag GmbH & Co. KGaA, Weinheim)