Variation in Coronal Activity from Solar Cycle 24 Minimum to Maximum Using Three-Dimensional Reconstructions of the Coronal Electron Density from STEREO/COR1

Abstract

Three dimensional electron density distributions in the solar corona are reconstructed for 100 Carrington Rotations (CR 2054$-$2153) during 2007/03$-$2014/08 using the spherically symmetric method from polarized white-light observations with the STEREO/COR1. These three-dimensional electron density distributions are validated by comparison with similar density models derived using other methods such as tomography and a MHD model as well as using data from SOHO/LASCO-C2. Uncertainties in the estimated total mass of the global corona are analyzed based on differences between the density distributions for COR1-A and -B. Long-term variations of coronal activity in terms of the global and hemispheric average electron densities (equivalent to the total coronal mass) reveal a hemispheric asymmetry during the rising phase of Solar Cycle 24, with the northern hemisphere leading the southern hemisphere by a phase shift of 7$-$9 months. Using 14-CR (~13-month) running averages, the amplitudes of the variation in average electron density between Cycle 24 maximum and Cycle 23/24 minimum (called the modulation factors) are found to be in the range of 1.6$-$4.3. These modulation factors are latitudinally dependent, being largest in polar regions and smallest in the equatorial region. These modulation factors also show a hemispheric asymmetry, being somewhat larger in the southern hemisphere. The wavelet analysis shows that the short-term quasi-periodic oscillations during the rising and maximum phases of Cycle 24 have a dominant period of 7$-$8 months. In addition, it is found that the radial distribution of mean electron density for streamers at Cycle 24 maximum is only slightly larger (by ~30%) than at cycle minimum.