Structure of the magnetic field at altitudes of 1–1.15 solar radii

Resumo

An analysis of the characteristics of unipolar structures detected at latitudes from −40◦ to +40◦, longitudes of 0◦−360◦, and altitudes of 1–1.15 solar radii during the period from May 1996 (the 23rd solar minimum) to October 2000 (the 23rd solar maximum) has been carried out. Synoptic maps of the solar radial magnetic field calculated in a potential approximation are used. The boundaries between unipolar structures with opposite magnetic polarities (“+/−” and “−/+” polarities) form chains extending along meridians at all the considered latitudes and altitudes. Depending on the latitude, the single-peaked distributions of the number of structures found at the lowest altitudes are replaced by double-peaked distributions at higher altitudes. The time variations of the total number of structures are non-monotonic. The growth in the number of unipolar structures begins before the growth in the Wolf number. This indicates that new unipolar structures already appear together with flocculi, preceding the formation of sunspots. It is found that structures with positive field have larger mean sizes that do structures with negative field. The polar field in the northern hemisphere penetrates to middle latitudes of the southern hemisphere. The existence of sets of structures with typical sizes is shown. The sizes of the smallest structures vary little with latitude, but increase slightly with altitude.