Comparison of subsurface sound-speed structures of three active regions

Abstract

We analyze three solar active regions observed with the MDI instrument onboard SoHO (Scherrer et al. 1995). We apply the time-distance helioseismology formalism to derive the travel times of acoustic waves propagating through these active regions. The inversion of these acoustic travel times gives us access to the 3D sound-speed structure below the sunspots. We compare the main characteristics of these inversion results as a function of the active region size and magnetic field strength.