HELIOSEISMIC IMAGING OF SUPERGRANULATION THROUGHOUT THE SUN'S NEAR-SURFACE SHEAR LAYER

We present measurements of the Sun's sub-surface convective flows and provide evidence that the pattern of supergranulation is driven at the surface. The pattern subsequently descends slowly throughout the near-surface shear layer in a manner that is inconsistent with a 3D cellular structure. The flow measurements are obtained through the application of a new helioseismic technique based on traditional ring analysis. We measure the flow field over the course of eleven days and perform a correlation analysis between all possible pairs of depths and temporal separations. In congruence with previous studies, we find that the supergranulation pattern remains coherent at the surface for slightly less than two days and the instantaneous surface pattern is imprinted to a depth of 7 Mm. However, these correlation times and depths are deceptive. When we admit a potential time lag in the correlation, we find that peak correlation in the convective flows descends at a rate of 10-40 m s(-1) (or equivalently 1-3Mm per day). Furthermore, the correlation extends throughout all depths of the near-surface shear layer. This pattern-propagation rate is well matched by estimates of the speed of downflows obtained through the anelastic approximation. Direct integration of the measured speed indicates that the supergranulation pattern that first appears at the surface eventually reaches the bottom of the near-surface shear layer a month later. Thus, the downflows have a Rossby radius of deformation equal to the depth of the shear layer and we suggest that this equality may not be coincidental.