Generation of a North/South Magnetic Field Component from Variations in the Photospheric Magnetic Field

Abstract

We address the problem of calculating the transverse magnetic field in the solar wind outside of the hypothetical sphere that is called the source surface where the solar wind originates. This calculation must overcome a widely used fundamental assumption about the source surface – the field is normally required to be purely radial at the source surface. Our model rests on the fact that a change in the radial field strength at the source surface is a change in the field line density. Surrounding field lines must move laterally to accommodate this field line density change. As the outward wind velocity drags field lines past the source surface, this lateral component of motion produces a tilt, implying there is a transverse component to the field. An analytic method of calculating the lateral translation speed of the field lines is developed. We apply the technique to an interval of approximately two Carrington rotations at the beginning of 2011 using 2-h averages of data from the Helioseismic Magnetic Imager instrument onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory spacecraft. We find that the value of the transverse magnetic field is dominated on a global scale by the effects of high-latitude concentrations of field lines that are buffeted by supergranular motions.