The Near-Surface Shear Layer
Speaker: Nick Featherstone, Loren Matilsky, Junwei Zhao, Rudi Komm
May 10, 2022 11:00 PDT
The solar convection zone possesses a boundary layer of radial rotational shear near the surface. This near-surface shear layer (NSSL) extends to a depth of about 35 Mm and is characterized by a 5% reduction of the differential rotation rate. The NSSL filters and possibly creates many of the observed surface and near-surface convection and magnetic flux features. However, it is not well understood, and its role in the activity cycle is unclear. We will provide a brief overview of significant puzzles associated with the NSSL and discuss some recent numerical results concerning its formation and thermal properties. We conclude with a discussion of helioseismic techniques that can be used to observe the NSSL and present some recent results.
Speaker Order and Topics:
- Nick Featherstone: Why is the NSSL of interest?
- Loren Matilsky: Convective Maintenance of Differential Rotation in the Sun
- Junwei Zhao: Time-Distance Technique
- Rudi Komm: Big-ring results