Latitude-Longitude Characteristics of the North–South Asymmetry of Solar Activity

Abstract

The characteristics of the latitude-longitude distribution of the north–south (NS) asymmetry of the number of sunspots for the period of 1874–2013 are studied. It is shown that there is an NS asymmetry of the sunspot number in all latitude-longitude ranges in which solar activity is manifested. Longitude ranges that exist for quite a long time in which the activity of the northern or southern hemisphere predominates are selected. It is found that the NS asymmetry of the sunspot number for the Sun as a whole is determined to a greater extent by the asynchronous development of activity in the northern and southern hemispheres.