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In 2015 the calculation of the International (Zurich) sunspot number was cancelled, and it was replaced by a new "recalibrated" series. A new data series was proposed also for the Group sunspot number. As a result, these two series which originally differed mainly in their long-term trends, were "reconciled", and the long-term trends in both of them were minimized. These changes led to new reconstructions of the long-term variations of solar irradiance, and to reconsidering the impact of the solar activity variations on climate change. Here we use data for the number of sunspots and the number of sunspot groups from a single observatory with continuous and homogeneous observations in order to evaluate how justified these recalibrations are., Comment: Proceedings of the XX Conference "Solar and solar-terrestrial Physics", pp. 61-66, 2016, ISBN 978-5-9651-1008-7, ISSN 0552-5829, 2016

The average geomagnetic activity during sunspot minimum has been continuously decreasing in the last four cycles. The geomagnetic activity is caused by both interplanetary disturbances - coronal mass ejections and high speed solar wind streams, and the background solar wind over which these disturbances ride. We show that the geomagnetic activity in cycle minimum does not depend on the number and parameters of coronal mass ejections or high speed solar wind streams, but on the background solar wind. The background solar wind has two components: slower and faster. The source of the slower component is the heliospheric current sheet, and of the faster one the polar coronal holes. It is supposed that the geomagnetic activity in cycle minimum is determined by the thickness of the heliospheric current sheet which is related to the portions of time the Earth spends in slow and in fast solar wind. We demonstrate that it is also determined by the parameters of these two components of the background solar wind which vary from cycle to cycle., Comment: Proceedings of the XVIII conference Solar and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 2014, Pulkovo, Russia, 20-25 October 2014

Solar irradiance is considered one of the main natural factors affecting terrestrial climate, and its variations are included in most numerical models estimating the effects of natural versus anthropogenic factors for climate change. Solar wind causing geomagnetic disturbances is another solar activity agent whose role in climate change is not yet fully estimated but is a subject of intense research. For the purposes of climate modeling, it is essential to evaluate both the past and the future variations of solar irradiance and geomagnetic activity which are ultimately due to the variations of solar magnetic fields. Direct measurements of solar magnetic fields are available for a limited period, but can be reconstructed from geomagnetic activity records. Here we present a reconstruction of total solar irradiance based on geomagnetic data, and a forecast of the future irradiance and geomagnetic activity relevant for the expected climate change., Comment: Proceedings of the XVIII conference "Solar and Solar-Terrestrial Physics 2014", Pulkovo, Russia, 20-25 October 2014

Many sunspot cycles are double peaked. In 1967 Gnevyshev suggested that actually all cycles have two peaks generated by different physical mechanisms, but sometimes the gap between them is too short for the maxima to be distinguished in indices of the total sunspot activity. Here we show that indeed all cycles have two peaks easily identified in sunspot activity in different latitudinal bands. We study the double peaks in the last 12 sunspot cycles and show that they are manifestation of the two surges of toroidal field - the one generated from the poloidal field advected all the way on the surface to the poles, down to the tachocline and equatorward to sunspot latitudes, and another one generated from the poloidal field diffused at midlatitudes from the surface to the tachocline and transformed there into toroidal field. The existence of these two surges of toroidal field is due to the relative magnitudes of the speed of the large-scale solar meridional circulation and the diffusivity in the solar convection zone which are estimated from geomagnetic data., Comment: In press in ISRN Astronomy and Astrophysics

The correlation between geomagnetic activity and the sunspot number in the 11-year solar cycle exhibits long-term variations due to the varying time lag between the sunspot-related and non-sunspot related geomagnetic activity, and the varying relative amplitude of the respective geomagnetic activity peaks. As the sunspot-related and non-sunspot related geomagnetic activity are caused by different solar agents, related to the solar toroidal and poloidal fields, respectively, we use their variations to derive the parameters of the solar dynamo transforming the poloidal field into toroidal field and back. We find that in the last 12 cycles the solar surface meridional circulation varied between 5 and 20 m/s (averaged over latitude and over the sunspot cycle), the deep circulation varied between 2.5 and 5.5 m/s, and the diffusivity in the whole of the convection zone was ~10**8 m2/s. In the last 12 cycles solar dynamo has been operating in moderately diffusion dominated regime in the bulk of the convection zone. This means that a part of the poloidal field generated at the surface is advected by the meridional circulation all the way to the poles, down to the tachocline and equatorward to sunspot latitudes, while another part is diffused directly to the tachocline at midlatitudes, "short-circuiting" the meridional circulation. The sunspot maximum is the superposition of the two surges of toroidal field generated by these two parts of the poloidal field, which is the explanation of the double peaks and the Gnevyshev gap in sunspot maximum. Near the tachocline, dynamo has been operating in diffusion dominated regime in which diffusion is more important than advection, so with increasing speed of the deep circulation the time for diffusive decay of the poloidal field decreases, and more toroidal field is generated leading to a higher sunspot maximum. During the Maunder minimum the dynamo was operating in advection dominated regime near the tachocline, with the transition from diffusion dominated to advection dominated regime caused by a sharp drop in the surface meridional circulation which is in general the most important factor modulating the amplitude of the sunspot cycle., Comment: to be published in Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics corrected typo

The progress article - Widening of the tropical belt in a changing climate - by Seidel et al. (2008) published in the first issue of Nature Geosciences, summarizes the results of several methods to determine the width of the tropical zone. All they show evidence that the tropics have been expanding over the past few decades. We confirm this widening based on one more indicator - the position of the subtropical centers of high pressure. However, we question the implication of the authors that the tropics widen in response to human activity, and suggest as a more probable cause the increasing solar activity. Consequently, we question their conclusion that this widening may continue into the future in association with anthropogenic climate change, and suggest that whether the tropics will continue widening will depend on the future evolution of solar activity rather than on anthropogenic activity., Comment: 2 pages, 1 figure

General atmospheric circulation is the system of atmospheric motions over the Earth on the scale of the whole globe. Two main types of circulation have been identified: zonal - characterized by low amplitude waves in the troposphere moving quickly from west to east, and meridional with stationary high amplitude waves when the meridional transfer is intensified. The prevailing type of circulation is related to global climate. Based on many years of observations, certain circulation epochs have been defined when the same type of circulation prevails for years or decades. Here we study the relation between long-term changes in solar activity and prevailing type of atmospheric circulation, using NAO index reconstructed for the last four centuries as a proxy for large-scale atmospheric circulation. We find that when the southern solar hemisphere is more active, increasing solar activity in the secular solar cycle results in increasing zonality of the circulation, while when the northern solar hemisphere is more active, increasing solar activity increases meridional circulation. In an attempt to explain the observations, we compare the short-term reaction of NAO and NAM indices to different solar drivers: powerful solar flares, high speed solar wind streams, and magnetic clouds, Comment: submitted to Advances in Space Research - a special issue with the proceedings of The Second International Symposium on Space Climate: "Long-term Change in the Sun, and its effects in the Heliosphere and Planet Earth" - Sinaia, Romania, September 13-16, 2006