Identification

Title

A magnetohydrodynamic mechanism for the formation of solar polar vortices

Abstract

Polar vortices are ubiquitous features of planetary atmospheric flows, from the Earth-like rocky planets to Jupiter- and Saturn-like gas giant planets. Very little is known about their existence or dynamics on the Sun. What should be expected near the Sun’s pole for the upcoming solar multi-viewpoint and polar missions? Here, we report the magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) nonlinear simulations for the formation and evolution of solar polar vortices using a near-surface MHD shallow-water model. Our findings indicate that the rush to the poles, the migration of magnetic fields toward the pole following the Sun’s magnetic cycle, can positively contribute to the formation of polar vortices. The mechanism proposed here for the formation of polar vortices involves the role of magnetic fields and may be relevant to any star with a magnetic cycle. The Sun’s polar vortices resulting from this mechanism are predominantly MHD, consisting of a tight pair of cyclonic and anticyclonic swirls. This mechanism is likely to operate during all solar cycle phases except the peak, when the polar field reverses. Polar vortices can impact dynamical evolution of global flows and polar fields, which seed the next activity cycle, hence better knowledge of physics of polar regions may lead to improved solar cycle and space weather forecasts.

Resource type

document

Resource locator

Unique resource identifier

code

https://n2t.net/ark:/85065/d7v410hc

codeSpace

Dataset language

eng

Spatial reference system

code identifying the spatial reference system

Classification of spatial data and services

Topic category

geoscientificInformation

Keywords

Keyword set

keyword value

Text

originating controlled vocabulary

title

Resource Type

reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2016-01-01T00:00:00Z

Geographic location

West bounding longitude

East bounding longitude

North bounding latitude

South bounding latitude

Temporal reference

Temporal extent

Begin position

End position

Dataset reference date

date type

publication

effective date

2024-11-01T00:00:00Z

Frequency of update

Quality and validity

Lineage

Conformity

Data format

name of format

version of format

Constraints related to access and use

Constraint set

Use constraints

Limitations on public access

None

Responsible organisations

Responsible party

contact position

OpenSky Support

organisation name

UCAR/NCAR - Library

full postal address

PO Box 3000

Boulder

80307-3000

email address

opensky@ucar.edu

web address

http://opensky.ucar.edu/

name: homepage

responsible party role

pointOfContact

Metadata on metadata

Metadata point of contact