Coronal index as a solar activity index applied to space weather Original Research Article

All possible changes of the solar activity can be expressed by the coronal index of solar activity that represents the averaged daily power of the green corona emitted from the Sun’s visible hemisphere. The representative character of this index allows us to study long-term, intermediate and short-term variations of the Sun as a star. This index can be expressed well as a function of other solar indices. As green line reflects the distribution of the photospheric magnetic fields in the solar corona, the dependence of this index on the solar magnetic field is confirmed by means of statistical analysis of these two parameters. Daily values of the coronal index, as well as of the magnetic field data obtained from the Wilcox Solar Observatory, has been analysed by Fast Fourier analysis and Wavelet Transform analysis for the time period 1966–1998 covering more than three solar cycles. Periodicities of 11.4, 3.2, 2.3, 1.7, 1, 0.29, 0.07 and 0.04 years have been found in both parameters that means once again that the coronal index is probably related to the underlying photospheric magnetic fields and can be used as a global index of solar activity useful for Space Weather studies.