arXiv subjects

Shukur Kholikov

Publications and source records attributed to Shukur Kholikov.

10 recordsLinked to original sources

arXiv2026

Oscillatory Phase and Acoustic Travel-Time Inconsistencies Measured between SDO/HMI and GONG Dopplergrams

We investigate the causes of discrepancies in meridional-circulation measurements derived from the helioseismic observations by the Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager onboard the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO/HMI) and the Global Oscillation Network Group (GONG). Using contemporaneous Dopplergrams from both instruments that are processed consistently, we measure relative oscillatory phase shifts at identical solar locations and analyze north-south acoustic travel-time shifts on both sides of the solar central meridian. Our analysis reveals a persistent area of phase-shift anomalies in the northwestern quadrant of the solar disk, whose magnitude increases over the analysis period from 2010 through 2024. After removing the axisymmetric component, the phase-shift maps display a deceasing trend from the northeastern to the southwestern quadrant, which can be misinterpreted as flows in helioseismic analyses. The travel-time measurements also show significant inconsistencies on the eastern and western sides of the central meridian for both instruments, although a close agreement between both sides is expected. These findings indicate that both SDO/HMI and GONG carry systematic artifacts affecting meridional-circulation measurements, and that the time-varying phase anomalies and eastern-western asymmetry pose major challenges for their accurate characterization and correction.

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arXiv2026

Active-region Modulation of Subsurface Meridional Flows and Magnetic Flux Transport on the Sun

Using time-distance helioseismology applied to 14-years of SDO/HMI observations spanning solar cycle 24 and rising phase of cycle 25, we present evidence that meridional flows in the lower half of the near-surface shear layer (NSSL), modulated by active-region magnetic fields, play a central role in the episodic global transport of magnetic flux. In particular, polar field buildup is tightly linked to plasma outflows diverging from active latitudes within the deeper NSSL. The magnitude and timing of hemispheric polar field evolution are regulated by depth-dependent meridional flow, including its cross-equatorial component, responding to active-region flux asymmetries. During cycle 24 maximum, stronger southern outflows accelerated flux transport, causing the southern polar field to peak nearly four years before the northern. Global magnetic flux transport patterns in the previous three solar cycles (21, 22, and 23) show broad consistency with the deeper meridional flow modulation inferred in cycles 24 and 25. These results identify activity-dependent flow variations in deeper layers of the NSSL as a dynamically significant component of the Babcock-Leighton process that governs the generation and hemispheric asymmetry of global dipole field.

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arXiv2025

Hemispheric Magnetic Asymmetry and Cross-Equatorial Circulation Cells within the Sun's Near-Surface Shear Layer

Using time-distance helioseismic measurements of meridional flow in the near-surface shear layer over a period of 14 years, starting from May 2010, we probe the depth structure and evolution of its cross-equatorial part. We confirm that the hemispheric magnetic asymmetry determines the amplitude and direction of such flows. Additionally, we find that these flows turn over and change direction at depths below 0.97R, forming circulation cells with lifetimes dictated again by the hemispheric magnetic imbalance, which is dominated by the occurrences of large sunspots. We also examine connections between cross-equatorial magnetic flux plumes and the flows, and discuss their implications for the equatorial flux cancellation/submergence and the poleward transport of flux.

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arXiv2025

Solar-cycle variations in meridional flows and rotational shear within the Sun's near-surface shear layer

Using solar-cycle long helioseismic measurements of meridional and zonal flows in the near-surface shear layer (NSSL) of the Sun, we study their spatio-temporal variations and connections to active regions. We find that near-surface inflows towards active latitudes are part of a local circulation with an outflow away from them at depths around 0.97 R, which is also the location where the deviations in the radial gradient of rotation change sign. These results, together with opposite-signed changes over latitude and depth in the above quantities observed during the solar minimum period, point to the action of the Coriolis force on large-scale flows as the primary cause of changes in the rotation gradient within the NSSL. We also find that such Coriolis force-mediated changes in near-surface flows towards active latitudes only marginally change the amplitude of zonal flow and hence are not likely to be its driving force. Our measurements typically achieve a high signal-to-noise ratio ($>$5$σ$) for near-surface flows but can drop to 3$σ$ near the base (0.95 R) of the NSSL. Close agreements between the depth profiles of changes in rotation gradient and in meridional flows measured from quite different global and local helioseismic techniques, respectively, show that the results are not dependent on the analysis techniques.

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arXiv2023

Camera update for GONG refurbishment: Development and validation

This report provides a brief summary of the properties of new cameras selected for NSF's Global Oscillations Network Group (GONG) facilities operated by the NSO Integrated Synoptic Program (NISP). These camera replacements are part of a GONG refurbishment project aimed to extend GONG operations through roughly FY 2030. Testing has confirmed the suitability of the new cameras and that current data products would be largely unchanged. GONG magnetograms show approximately one-to-one scaling with old data, and the helioseismology data (l-nu diagrams) are nearly identical without any identifiable artifacts. A number of tests were also conducted for GONG processing pipelines and have demonstrated that the modified NISP data center pipelines can transition smoothly to processing observations taken with the new cameras

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arXiv2017

Inversions for Deep Solar Meridional Flow Using Spherical Born Kernels

The solar meridional flow is a crucial ingredient in modern dynamo theory. Seismic estimates of this flow have, however, been contradictory in deeper layers below about $0.9\,R_\odot$. Results from time-distance helioseismology have so far been obtained using the ray approximation. Here, we perform inversions using the Born approximation. The initial result is similar to the result previously obtained by Jackiewicz et al. (2015) using ray kernels while using the same set of GONG data and the SOLA inversion technique. However, we show that the assumption of uncorrelated measurements used in earlier studies may lead to inversion errors being underestimated by a factor of about two to four. In a second step, refined inversions are performed using the full covariance matrix and a regularization for cross-talk. As the results are found to depend on the threshold used in the singular value decomposition, they were obtained for a medium threshold ($10^{-7}-10^{-5}$, about 50% of the values used) and a threshold lower by a factor of 10 (about 70% of the values used). The result obtained with the medium threshold is again similar to the original, with less latitudinal variation. However, using the lower threshold, the inverted flow in the southern hemisphere shows two or three cells stacked radially depending on the associated radial flows. Both the single-cell and the multi-cell profiles are consistent with the measured travel times. All our results confirm a shallow return flow at about $0.9\,R_\odot$.

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arXiv2017

Validation of Spherical Born Approximation Sensitivity Functions for Measuring Deep Solar Meridional Flow

Accurate measurements of deep solar meridional flow are of vital interest for understanding the solar dynamo. In this paper, we validate a recently developed method for obtaining sensitivity functions (kernels) for travel-time measurements to solar interior flows using the Born approximation in spherical geometry, which is expected to be more accurate than the classical ray approximation. Furthermore, we develop a numerical approach to efficiently compute a large number of kernels based on the separability of the eigenfunctions into their horizontal and radial dependence. The validation is performed using a hydrodynamic simulation of linear wave propagation in the Sun, which includes a standard single-cell meridional flow profile. We show that, using the Born approximation, it is possible to accurately model observational quantities relevant for time-distance helioseismology such as the mean power spectrum, disc-averaged cross-covariance functions, and travel times in the presence of a flow field. In order to closely match the model to observations, we show that it is beneficial to use mode frequencies and damping rates which were extracted from the measured power spectrum. Furthermore, the contribution of the radial flow to the total travel time is found to reach 20% of the contribution of the horizontal flow at travel distances over $40^\circ$. Using the Born kernels and a 2D SOLA inversion of travel times, we can recover most features of the input meridional flow profile. The Born approximation is thus a promising method for inferring large-scale solar interior flows.

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arXiv2016

GONG ClassicMerge: Pipeline and Product

A recent processing effort has been undertaken in order to extend the range-of-coverage of the GONG merged dopplergrams. The GONG-Classic-era observations have now been merged to provide, albeit at lower resolution, mrvzi data as far back as May of 1995. The contents of this document provide an overview of what these data look like, the processing steps used to generate them from the original site observations, and the outcomes of a few initial quality-assurance tests designed to validate the final merged images. Based on these tests, the GONG project is releasing this data product to the user community (http://nisp.nso.edu/data).

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arXiv2015

Application of Mutual Information Methods in Time-Distance Helioseismology

We apply a new technique, the mutual information (MI) from information theory, to time-distance helioseismology, and demonstrate that it can successfully reproduce several classic results based on the widely used cross-covariance method. MI quantifies the deviation of two random variables from complete independence, and represents a more general method for detecting dependencies in time series than the cross-covariance function, which only detects linear relationships. We provide a brief description of the MI-based technique and discuss the results of the application of MI to derive the solar differential rotation profile, a travel-time deviation map for a sunspot and a time-distance diagram from quiet Sun measurements.

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arXiv2014

Meridional Flow in the Solar Convection Zone I: Measurements from GONG Data

Large-scale plasma flows in the Sun's convection zone likely play a major role in solar dynamics on decadal timescales. In particular, quantifying meridional motions is a critical ingredient for understanding the solar cycle and the transport of magnetic flux. Because the signal of such features can be quite small in deep solar layers and be buried in systematics or noise, the true meridional velocity profile has remained elusive. We perform time-distance helioseismology measurements on several years worth of GONG Doppler data. A spherical harmonic decomposition technique is applied to a subset of acoustic modes to measure travel-time differences to try to obtain signatures of meridional flows throughout the solar convection zone. Center-to-limb systematics are taken into account in an intuitive, yet ad hoc manner. Travel-time differences near the surface that are consistent with a poleward flow in each hemisphere and are similar to previous work are measured. Additionally, measurements in deep layers near the base of the convection zone suggest a possible equatorward flow, as well as partial evidence of a sign change in the travel-time differences at mid-convection zone depths. This analysis on an independent data set using different measurement techniques strengthens recent conclusions that the convection zone may have multiple "cells" of meridional flow. The results may challenge the common understanding of one large conveyor belt operating in the solar convection zone. Further work with helioseismic inversions and a careful study of systematic effects are needed before firm conclusions of these large-scale flow structures can be made.

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