R. Howe

Bio: R. Howe is an academic researcher from National Research Foundation of South Africa. The author has contributed to research in topics: Solar rotation & Convection zone. The author has an hindex of 1, co-authored 2 publications receiving 435 citations.

Dynamic variations at the base of the solar convection zone

Abstract: We have detected changes in the rotation of the sun near the base of its convective envelope, including a prominent variation with a period of 1.3 years at low latitudes. Such helioseismic probing of the deep solar interior has been enabled by nearly continuous observation of its oscillation modes with two complementary experiments. Inversion of the global-mode frequency splittings reveals that the largest temporal changes in the angular velocity Ω are of the order of 6 nanohertz and occur above and below the tachocline that separates the sun's differentially rotating convection zone (outer 30% by radius) from the nearly uniformly rotating deeper radiative interior beneath. Such changes are most pronounced near the equator and at high latitudes and are a substantial fraction of the average 30-nanohertz difference in Ω with radius across the tachocline at the equator. The results indicate variations of rotation close to the presumed site of the solar dynamo, which may generate the 22-year cycles of magnetic activity.

The Solar Cycle

Abstract: The Solar Cycle is reviewed. The 11-year cycle of solar activity is characterized by the rise and fall in the numbers and surface area of sunspots. We examine a number of other solar activity indicators including the 10.7 cm radio flux, the total solar irradiance, the magnetic field, flares and coronal mass ejections, geomagnetic activity, galactic cosmic ray fluxes, and radioisotopes in tree rings and ice cores that vary in association with the sunspots. We examine the characteristics of individual solar cycles including their maxima and minima, cycle periods and amplitudes, cycle shape, and the nature of active latitudes, hemispheres, and longitudes. We examine long-term variability including the Maunder Minimum, the Gleissberg Cycle, and the Gnevyshev-Ohl Rule. Short-term variability includes the 154-day periodicity, quasi-biennial variations, and double peaked maxima. We conclude with an examination of prediction techniques for the solar cycle.

The Internal Rotation of the Sun

Abstract: ▪ Abstract Helioseismology has transformed our knowledge of the Sun's rotation. Earlier studies revealed the Sun's surface rotation, but now a detailed observational picture has been built up of the internal rotation of our nearest star. Unlike the predictions of stellar-evolution models, the radiative interior is found to rotate roughly uniformly. The rotation within the convection zone is also very different from prior expectations, which had been that the rotation rate would depend primarily on the distance from the rotation axis. Layers of rotational shear have been discovered at the base of the convection zone and in the subphotospheric layers. Studies of the time variation of rotation have uncovered zonal-flow bands, extending through a substantial fraction of the convection zone, which migrate over the course of the solar cycle, and there are hints of other temporal variations and of a jet-like structure. At the same time, building on earlier work with mean-field models, researchers have made great...

The case for a distributed solar dynamo shaped by near-surface shear

Abstract: Arguments for and against the widely accepted picture of a solar dynamo being seated in the tachocline are reviewed, and alternative ideas concerning dynamos operating in the bulk of the convection zone, or perhaps even in the near-surface shear layer, are discussed. Based on the angular velocities of magnetic tracers, it is argued that the observations are compatible with a distributed dynamo that may be strongly shaped by the near-surface shear layer. Direct simulations of dynamo action in a slab with turbulence and shear are presented to discuss filling factor and tilt angles of bipolar regions in such a model.

Solar radiative output and its variability: evidence and mechanisms

Abstract: Electromagnetic radiation from the Sun is Earth’s primary energy source. Space-based radiometric measurements in the past two decades have begun to establish the nature, magnitude and origins of its variability. An 11-year cycle with peak-to-peak amplitude of order 0.1 % is now well established in recent total solar irradiance observations, as are larger variations of order 0.2 % associated with the Sun’s 27-day rotation period. The ultraviolet, visible and infrared spectral regions all participate in these variations, with larger changes at shorter wavelengths. Linkages of solar radiative output variations with solar magnetism are clearly identified. Active regions alter the local radiance, and their wavelength-dependent contrasts relative to the quiet Sun control the relative spectrum of irradiance variability. Solar radiative output also responds to sub-surface convection and to eruptive events on the Sun. On the shortest time scales, total irradiance exhibits five minute fluctuations of amplitude $\approx 0.003$ %, and can increase to as much as 0.015 % during the very largest solar flares. Unknown is whether multi-decadal changes in solar activity produce longer-term irradiance variations larger than observed thus far in the contemporary epoch. Empirical associations with solar activity proxies suggest reduced total solar irradiance during the anomalously low activity in the seventeenth century Maunder Minimum relative to the present. Uncertainties in understanding the physical relationships between direct magnetic modulation of solar radiative output and heliospheric modulation of cosmogenic proxies preclude definitive historical irradiance estimates, as yet.

Large-Scale Dynamics of the Convection Zone and Tachocline

Abstract: The past few decades have seen dramatic progress in our understanding of solar interior dynamics, prompted by the relatively new science of helioseismology and increasingly sophisticated numerical models. As the ultimate driver of solar variability and space weather, global-scale convective motions are of particular interest from a practical as well as a theoretical perspective. Turbulent convection under the influence of rotation and stratification redistributes momentum and energy, generating differential rotation, meridional circulation, and magnetic fields through hydromagnetic dynamo processes. In the solar tachocline near the base of the convection zone, strong angular velocity shear further amplifies fields which subsequently rise to the surface to form active regions. Penetrative convection, instabilities, stratified turbulence, and waves all add to the dynamical richness of the tachocline region and pose particular modeling challenges. In this article we review observational, theoretical, and computational investigations of global-scale dynamics in the solar interior. Particular emphasis is placed on high-resolution global simulations of solar convection, highlighting what we have learned from them and how they may be improved.