Recurrence quantification analysis of two solar cycle indices

Abstract

Solar activity affects the whole heliosphere and near-Earth space environment. It has been reported in the literature that the mechanism responsible for the solar activity modulation behaves like a low-dimensional chaotic system. Studying these kind of physical systems and, in particular, their temporal evolution requires non-linear analysis methods. To this regard, in this work we apply the recurrence quantification analysis (RQA) to the study of two of the most commonly used solar cycle indicators; i.e. the series of the sunspot number (SSN), and the radio flux 10.7 cm, with the aim of identifying possible dynamical transitions in the system; a task which is particularly suited to the RQA. The outcome of this analysis reveals the presence of large fluctuations of two RQA measures: namely the determinism and the laminarity. In addition, large differences are also seen between the evolution of the RQA measures of the SSN and the radio flux. That suggests the presence of transitions in the dynamics underlying the solar activity. Besides it also shows and quantifies the different nature of these two solar indices. Furthermore, in order to check whether our results are affected by dataartefacts, we have also applied the RQA to both the recently recalibrated SSN series and the previous one, unveiling the main differences between the two data sets. The results are discussed in light of the recent literature on the subject.

Statistical properties of solar Hα flare activity

“…One of the most important advantage of CRP is that the local difference described by bowed lines of two time series could be well revealed and determined (Stangalini et al, 2017). The CRP pattern of hemispheric solar Ha flare activity is calculated using a varying recurrence threshold e, preserving a recurrence point density of 10%.…”

Recurrence‐Based Quantification of Dynamical Complexity in the Earth's Magnetosphere at Geospace Storm Timescales

“…Recently, Mendes et al () presented a first study aiming at obtaining quantitative information on high‐intensity and long‐duration continuous auroral activity from recurrence plots. In turn, regarding different solar activity indicators, a number of studies have utilized recurrence plots to characterize the underlying nonlinear dynamics (see Donner, ; Stangalini et al, , and references therein).…”

Comparative Analysis of Earth’s Climate and Solar and Geomagnetic Activities

“…2(1,2) shows that they both have periodic and noisy components. After about 2000 years, the black areas on both recurrence diagrams become larger, which is related to the beginning of the activity minima [12].…”