A review of the solar cycle length estimates

Abstract We study the solar wind helium-to-hydrogen abundance's ( A He ) relationship to solar cycle onset. Using OMNI/Lo data, we show that A He increases prior to sunspot number (SSN) minima. We also identify a rapid depletion and recovery in A He that occurs directly prior to cycle onset. This A He Shutoff happens at approximately the same time across solar wind speeds ( v sw ) and the time between successive A He shutoffs is typically on the order of the corresponding solar cycle length. In contrast to A He 's v sw -dependent phase lag with respect to SSN (Alterman and Kasper, 2019), A He Shutoff's concurrence across v sw likely implies it is independent of solar wind acceleration and driven by a mechanism near or below the photosphere. Using Brightpoint (BP) measurements to provide context, we infer that this shutoff is likely related to the overlap of adjacent solar cycles and the equatorial flux cancelation of the older, extended solar cycle during solar minima.

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Solar Activity and Global Temperature

International Astronomical Union Colloquium ◽

10.1017/s0252921100024830 ◽

1994 ◽

Vol 143 ◽

pp. 339-347 ◽

Cited By ~ 1

Author(s):

Eigil Friis-Christensen ◽

Knud Lassen

Keyword(s):

Solar Activity ◽

Solar Cycle ◽

Sunspot Number ◽

Cycle Length ◽

Global Temperature ◽

Energy Output ◽

Temperature Record ◽

Reconstructed Temperature ◽

Solar Cycle Length

A major problem in the determination of the magnitude of a possible solar effect on climate is that no physical parameter of solar energy output exists that has been observed long enough to be used for long-term analyses. Therefore, a number of indirect parameters have been proposed, with the sunspot number as the most commonly used parameter. Recently it has been suggested that climatic effects may be more directly associated with the length of the solar cycle. Whereas the magnitude of the sunspot number is only believed to be reliable back to 1750, determination of solar activity minima may be based on other types of data. A recent reconstructed series of solar cycle lengths back to 1500 gives new information about solar activity in particular before and during the Maunder Minimum. A comparison with reconstructed temperature records has revealed that the good agreement between the solar cycle length and the global temperature found for the modern instrumental temperature record is also characteristic for the total series of reconstructed temperature data. A further result is that the response of the temperature during the pre-instrumental era is the same as for the modern temperature record. This finding confirms the close association beween terrestrial temperature and solar activity measured in terms of the solar cycle length.

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