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A. A. Smith, H. B. Snodgrass (Lewis \& Clark College)
We have run plots of artificial data, which mimic solar magnetograms, through standard algorithms to critique several results reported in the literature. In studying correlation algorithms, we show that the differences in the profiles for the differential rotation of the photospheric magnetic field stem from different methods of averaging. We verify that the lifetimes of small magnetic features, or of small patterns of these features in the large-scale background field, are on the order of months, rather than a few days. We also show that a meridional flow which is cycle dependent creates an artifact in the correlation-determined magnetic rotation which looks like a torsional oscillation; and we compare this artifact to the torsional patterns that have been reported. Finally, we simulate the time development of a large-scale background field created solely from an input of artifical, finite-lifetime 'sunspot' bipoles. In this simulation, we separately examine the effects of differential rotation, meridional flow and Brownian motion (random walk, which we use rather than diffusion), and the inclination angles of the sunspot bipoles (Joy's law). We find, concurring with surface transport equation models, that a critical factor for producing the patterns seen on the Sun is the inclination angle of the bipolar active regions. This work was supported by NSF grant 9416999.
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