HR: 09:00h
AN: SP11C-03    [Abstracts]
TI: Solar Supergranulation as Propagating Waves
AU: * Green, C
EM: green@sccm.stanford.edu
AF: SCCM Program, Stanford University, Gates Building 2B, Stanford, CA 94305-9025 United States
AU: Kosovichev, A G
EM: sasha@quake.stanford.edu
AF: HEPL, Stanford University, 455 via Palou, Stanford, CA 94305-4085 United States
AB: It has been observed that the supergranulation pattern on the surface of the Sun appears to rotate faster than the photospheric plasma and magnetic features. It is postulated that this could be due to instabilities in the subsurface convective shear layer. This behaviour is modelled, starting with a linearized system of differential equations describing a convectively unstable region containing a horizontal shear flow. The system is solved numerically, using parameters drawn from the solar model and helioseismic inversions and assuming linear and non-linear shear flow profiles, for a range of wavenumbers. The phase speeds of the resulting wave solutions are found to be greater than the surface speed, possibly explaining the observed behaviour.
DE: 7522 Helioseismology
DE: 7529 Photosphere
DE: 7544 Stellar interiors and dynamo theory
SC: Solar Physics Division - AAS [SP]
MN: 2005 Joint Assembly