Independent global modes of solar magnetic field fluctuations

Observed solar, interplanetary and geomagnetic time series contain quasi periodicities on scales of 1-2.5 years. The further discovery of 1.3 year fluctuations in helioseismic observations suggests that a variety of signals may be related to the underlying dynamo in the Sun. We use independent component analysis to study the temporal and spatial variations of a few statistically independent global modes of the axisymmetric solar magnetic field over a period of 25 years. Five modes capture the salient properties of the data. Two modes describe the polar and high latitude fields, and present 1-1.5 year quasi periodicities. The other three modes correspond to low and mid-latitude phenomena and show both 1.3 and 1.7-year variations. By comparing the characteristic time scales, dates of occurrence and heliocentric latitudes of these modes, we connect them to their manifestations in heliospheric time series.