The quasi-biennial periodicity (QBP) in velocity and intensity helioseismic observations

The seismic QBP over solar cycle 23

¹ PMOD/WRC Physikalisch-Meteorologisches Observatorium Davos-World Radiation Center, 7260 Davos Dorf, Switzerland
e-mail: rosaria.simoniello@pmodwrc.ch; wolfgang.finsterle@pmodwrc.ch
² Université de Nice Sophia-Antipolis, CNRS UMR 6202, Observatoire de la Côte d’Azur, BP 4229, 06304 Nice Cedex 4, France
e-mail: salabert.david@oca.fr
³ Laboratoire AIM, CEA/DSM-CNRS-Université Paris Diderot, CEA, IRFU, SAp, centre de Saclay, 91191 Gif-sur-Yvette, France
e-mail: rgarcia@cea.fr; sylvaine.turck-chieze@cea.fr
⁴ IAC, Instituto de Astrofisíca de Canarias, 38205 La Laguna, Tenerife, Spain
e-mail: ajm@iac.es
⁵ Kiepenheuer Institute for Solar Physics, Freiburg, Germany
e-mail: mroth@kis.uni-freiburg.de

Received: 9 September 2011
Accepted: 12 January 2012

Abstract

Aims. We looked for signatures of quasi-biennial periodicity (QBP) over different phases of solar cycle by means of acoustic modes of oscillation. Low-degree p-mode frequencies are shown to be sensitive to changes in magnetic activity due to the global dynamo. Recently there has been reported evidence of two-year variations in p-mode frequencies.

Methods. Long high-quality helioseismic data are provided by BiSON (Birmingham Solar Oscillation Network), GONG (Global Oscillation Network Group), GOLF (Global Oscillation at Low Frequency) and VIRGO (Variability of Solar IRradiance and Gravity Oscillation) instruments. We determined the solar cycle changes in p-mode frequencies for spherical degree ℓ = 0, 1, 2 with their azimuthal components in the frequency range 2.5 mHz  ≤  ν  ≤ 3.5 mHz.

Results. We found signatures of QBP at all levels of solar activity in the modes more sensitive to higher latitudes. The signal strength increases with latitude and the equatorial component also seems to be modulated by the 11-year envelope.

Conclusions. The persistent nature of the seismic QBP is not observed in the surface activity indices, where mid-term variations are found only from time to time and mainly in periods of high activity. This feature, together with the latitudinal dependence, provides more evidence of a mechanism that is almost independent and different from the one that brings the active regions up to the surface. Therefore, these findings can be used to provide more constraints on dynamo models that consider a further cyclic component on top of the 11-year cycle.