22-year periodicity in solar rotation, solar wind parameters and earth rotation

Abstract

It is generally accepted that the annual variation in the Earth's rotation rate is fully determined by large-scale seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation, while the decadal changes in Earth's rotation have been shown to be closely correlated to the North-South asymmetry in solar differential rotation. In the present paper we demonstrate that the oscillations of both the Earth's and the solar rotation rates are different in cycles with negative end positive solar polarity. We find that differences between positive and negative polarity solar cycles exist also in solar wind velocity and interplanetary magnetic field parameters, and suggest that the solar wind mediates the transfer of angular momentum from the Sun to the Earth.