Can surface flux transport account for the weak polar field in cycle 23?

Abstract

To reproduce the weak magnetic field on the polar caps of the Sun observed during the declining phase of cycle 23 poses a challenge to surface flux transport models since this cycle has not been particularly weak. We use a well-calibrated model to evaluate the parameter changes required to obtain simulated polar fields and open flux that are consistent with the observations. We find that the low polar field of cycle 23 could be reproduced by an increase of the meridional flow by 55% in the last cycle. Alternatively, a decrease of the mean tilt angle of sunspot groups by 28% would also lead to a similarly low polar field, but cause a delay of the polar field reversals by 1.5 years in comparison to the observations.

9 pages, 8 figures, Space Science Reviews, accepted

References in corpus (5)

• The Solar Cycle
• The solar magnetic field since 1700: I. Characteristics of sunspot group emergence and reconstruction of the butterfly diagram
• The solar magnetic field since 1700: II. Physical reconstruction of total, polar and open flux
• Multi-Channel Three-Dimensional SOLA Inversion for Local Helioseismology
• What's So Peculiar About the Cycle 23/24 Solar Minimum?

Cited by in corpus (13)

• The Sun's Global Photospheric and Coronal Magnetic Fields: Observations and Models
• Magnetic Flux Transport at the Solar Surface
• On Polar Magnetic Field Reversal and Surface Flux Transport During Solar Cycle 24
• Effects of the scatter in sunspot group tilt angles on the large-scale magnetic field at the solar surface
• Solar magnetic activity cycles, coronal potential field models and eruption rates
• Improvement of solar cycle prediction: Plateau of solar axial dipole moment
• Evolution of active and polar photospheric magnetic fields during the rise of Cycle 24 compared to previous cycles
• Modelling total solar irradiance since 1878 from simulated magnetograms
• Parameter optimization for surface flux transport models
• Solar-Cycle Characteristics in Kodaikanal Sunspot Area: North--South Asymmetry, Phase Distribution and Gnevyshev Gap
• Changes in quasi-periodic variations of solar photospheric fields: precursor to the deep solar minimum in the cycle 23?
• Effect of morphological asymmetry between leading and following sunspots on the prediction of solar cycle activity
• Narrowing the solar surface flux transport parameter space through nonlinear feedbacks