Solar p-Mode Frequencies over Three Solar Cycles

We analyze thirty years of solar oscillations data collected by the Birmingham Solar Oscillations Network (BiSON). Estimates of the mean frequency shifts of low-degree p-modes have been extracted over a period spanning solar cycles 21-23. Two methods of analysis are used to extract the frequency shifts: one method uses results on fitted frequencies of individual modes, which are then averaged to give mean frequency shifts; the other method uses cross-correlations of power frequency spectra made from subsets of the data shifted in time. The frequency shifts are correlated against six proxies of solar activity, which are sensitive to magnetic and irradiance variability at a range of locations from the photosphere to the corona. We find proxies that have good sensitivity to the effects of weak-component magnetic flux—which is more widely distributed in latitude than the strong flux in the active regions—are those that follow the frequency shifts most consistently over the three cycles. This list includes the Mg II H and K core-to-wing data, the 10.7 cm radio flux, and the He I equivalent width data. While the two methods of analysis give consistent results, use of the cross-correlation function to measure mean frequency shifts returns less precise values in cases in which the duty cycle is greater than 30%. Estimation of uncertainties from the cross-correlation method also requires that proper allowance be made for strong correlations in the data.