Stable Sunspot Area Level of Debrecen Photoheliographic Data and Multivariate Correction Factor of SOON Data

We investigate the spatial and temporal variation of sunspot group areas reported by the Greenwich Photoheliographic Results (GPR), the Solar Optical Observing Network (SOON), the Kislovodsk Mountain Astronomical Station (KMAS), and the Debrecen Photoheliographic Data (DPD) databases. We identify improved correction factors for reconciling these individual records to a common scale. Our results show that the DPD sunspot group areas are stable over the studied interval (1974?–?2014). We find an improved fit between GPR and DPD sunspot group areas when using a correction factor such that (mathrm{GPR} = 0.975(pm 0.006) times mathrm{DPD}), independent of the position of the sunspot group on the solar disk. We also find that the scale of KMAS sunspot group areas fits that of DPD well, but has a small position-dependent trend near the limb. However, in order to set SOON sunspot group area records onto the scale of DPD, we find that there is a need for a multivariate correction factor. This multivariate correction factor has a value ranging between 1.1 and 1.9 and is dependent upon the time of the SOON observation, the distance of the group from disk center, and the observatory within the SOON network. Finally, we provide further context to the systematic bias in SOON sunspot group area observations toward lower values relative to those recorded in the GPR and DPD databases that has previously been reported in the literature. We have identified the two main contributors to the SOON area deficit; some penumbral parts are unobserved, and the spot areas are underestimated. Our analysis is vital for studies that require stable, long-term solar activity records such as solar irradiance models that estimate irradiance reduction from records of sunspot group numbers, areas, and locations.