Ring diagram analysis of velocity fields within the solar convection zone

Abstract

Ring diagram analysis of solar oscillation power spectra obtained from MDI data is performed to study the velocity fields within the solar convection zone. The three dimensional power spectra are fitted to a model with a Lorentzian profile in frequency and includes the advection of the wave front by horizontal flows to obtain the two horizontal components of flows as a function of the horizontal wave number and radial order of the oscillation modes. This information is then inverted using the OLA and RLS techniques to infer the variation in flow velocity with depth. The resulting velocity fields yield the mean rotation velocity at different latitudes which agrees reasonably with helioseismic estimates. The zonal flow inferred in the outermost layers also appears to be in agreement with other measurements. A meridional flow from equator polewards is found to have an amplitude of about 25 m/s near the surface and the amplitude appears to increase with depth.