Temporal variations of the solar EUV network properties

Abstract

The chromospheric network extended to the transition region as the solar EUV network disperses at the coronal level. The EUV emission lines from the transition region give information about different atmospheric heights. The network properties have been obtained from the daily spectroscopic data from the Coronal Diagnostic Spectrometer (CDS) on board the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO) in two lines He i 584.5 Å and O v 630 Å. The synoptic changes in the line intensity, skewness of intensity distribution, mean contrast and network index with respect to the sunspot cycle were studied for a period of 11 years from 1996 to 2006. We have obtained the cross correlation of the monthly average of these quantities with the monthly sunspot number. The mean intensity and skewness of the two lines generally show a positive correlation with the sunspot cycle. The network contrast and network index of the He i shows a definite negative correlation with the sunspot cycle. The negative correlations shown by the He i line are unexpected which could be due to its anomalous behaviour. There are differences in the behaviour of the two lines regarding the time lag with the sunspot cycle and the magnitude of the correlation which is always higher for the He i line. The results have implications to the studies of solar irradiance, magnetic flux transfer and solar atmospheric dynamics.