Why is geomagnetic activity during the ending years of a solar cycle well correlated to the maximum of the next cycle?

Abstract

The two component nature of the solar activity cycle as resulting from the shock-transition model of the solar magnetic cycle, provides for a correlation between a measure of coronal hole formations during the ending years of one solar cycle and the maximum annual sunspot number R/submax of the next cycle. This might account for the observed correlation between the geomagnetic activity during the last few years of one cycle and the R/submax of the next cycle.