The solar causes of geomagnetic disturbances

Geomagnetic disturbances have been identified with respect to their sources for 1977–1983. The disturbance level was found using the daily planetary index A _p. High-amplitude ( 50), mean-amplitude (24) and low-amplitude ( 12) disturbances are caused by solar flares of importance 1, coronal holes, and filament cavities, respectively. The ranges of probable amplitudes of disturbances of different nature and their relative number are found from Poisson random distributions of amplitudes.     

Essential features of the 11-year solar cycle

Investigation of sunspots, coronal lines intensity, flares and other solar and geophysical data have confirmed the fact that the 11-year cycle consists of two events (maxima) having different features.During the first maximum (it coincides in time with the maximum of the Wolf numbers) the solar activity increases in all heliographic latitudes but it is maximal in latitude 25° in each hemisphere. The far UV radiation and number of small spots, flares and geomagnetic disturbances with sudden commencements and without 27-day recurrences are maximum at this time.During the second maximum, which appears 2–3 years after the first one, the activity is maximal in latitudes ± 10°. At this time the biggest spots, big flares, aurora and geomagnetic disturbances with the gradual commencements and long series of 27-day recurrences appear.The variations of averaged 5303 and 6374 Å coronal line intensities may be interpreted as an increase of coronal density and temperature during the first maximum and a sharp decrease of density and temperature rise during the second one. The temperature during the second maximum is higher than that during the first one.The distribution of activity on time-latitude diagrams (so-called butterflies) is a result of superposition of two random distributions corresponding to the two maxima mentioned above.     

The Lyot-coronagraph with 53 cm objective

The new Lyot-coronagraph with 53 cm objective is described. The coronagraph has a grating spectrograph. The solar disk image on the slit of the spectrograph is 12.6 cm. The dispersion is 1 Å/mm in the second order. The coronagraph is situated at the Kislovodsk Station of Pulkovo Observatory, 2050 m above sea level.     

On the 11-years cycle of solar activity

Each 11-years cycle of solar activity consists of two processes with different physical properties. The variety of shapes of the 11-years curves depends on the way these processes overlap.All events in the photosphere, chromosphere and corona, and all kinds of emissions like the radio- and corpuscular emissions take part in these two processes.Events taking place in the magnetosphere, ionosphere, troposphere and perhaps some chemical and biological events reflect the essential properties of the 11-years cycle.     

The behaviour of prominence areas in the 11-Year cycle and their relationship with other solar events

On the basis of the data on prominence areas for 1880–1976 and positions of the boundary background magnetic field for 1955–1982 it is shown that the maximum development of prominences and their poleward migration, accompanied by the magnetic field reversal, concides with the first maximum of the 11-year solar cycle, which is characterized by an enhancement of solar activity at all latitudes. The second maximum is an increase of all features, including prominences but in the low latitudes only. That prominence zone migrates poleward in the following 11-year solar cycle.     

Nonlinear interaction of a zonal jet and barotropic Rossby-wave turbulence: the problem of turbulent friction

Interaction of a zonal jet and small-amplitude Rossby-wave turbulence is studied within the framework of the barotropic β-plane model. It is demonstrated that turbulent-laminar interaction in this case transfers energy from the wave turbulence to the laminar flow (the effect of negative friction). We derive a conclusion that, as the geophysical turbulence is determined partly by wave turbulence and none of the traditional heuristic models can adequately describe the effect of negative friction associated with wave turbulence, the application of these models to the ‘real’ ocean and atmosphere is unreliable.It is also demonstrated that, as they are affected by the turbulence, all westward jets slowly expand without strengthening. Each jet has a core, within the limits of which the velocity of the fluid is constant. In some cases, the core expands faster than the jet periphery, resulting in jumps on the profile of the flow. All eastward jets are steady irrespective of their profiles.     

Interaction between Rossby Waves and a Jet Flow: Basic Equations and Verification for the Antarctic Circumpolar Current

Izvestiya, Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics - Abstract—The article focuses on the interaction of Rossby waves in the ocean with zonal jet flows. A new approach is proposed to show that...     

Stability of the photometric observations of the solar corona and variations of its intensity in the solar cycle 21

A comparison of the measurements of the intensity of the coronal line 5303 Å at the observations at Norikura, Kislovodsk and Lomnický tít is used to determine the stability of photometric systems and cancel the effect of its variations. The intensity variations of the solar corona during the 21st solar cycle are plotted. It is confirmed that the 11-year solar cycle consists of two maxima of activity; the first one is characterized by a simultaneous enhancement of activity at all latitudes and the second one shows up only in the equatorial zone.