Revisiting the solar tachocline: average properties and temporal variations

Abstract

The tachocline is believed to be the region where the solar dynamo operates. With over a solar cycle's worth of data available from the Michelson Doppler Imager and Global Oscillation Network Group instruments, we are in a position to investigate not merely the average structure of the solar tachocline, but also its time variations. We determine the properties of the tachocline as a function of time by fitting a two-dimensional model that takes latitudinal variations of the tachocline properties into account. We confirm that if we consider the central position of the tachocline, it is prolate. Our results show that the tachocline is thicker at latitudes higher than the equator, making the overall shape of the tachocline more complex. Of the tachocline properties examined, the transition of the rotation rate across the tachocline, and to some extent the position of the tachocline, show some temporal variations.