THE REVERSAL OF THE SOLAR POLAR MAGNETIC-FIELDS

The Mount Wilson synoptic magnetic data from CRs 1815 to 1866 are used to describe the reversal of the solar polar magnetic fields during the period May 1989-March 1993. These are compared with simulations based on the observed fields for CR 1815 using the flux transport equation. Simulations including the emergence of small bipoles with preferred poleward orientations are also described. It is shown that, while the former can provide a qualitative account of the evolution of the southern fields between CRs 1815 and 1860, only the latter can describe the evolution of the northern fields between CRs 1815 and 1865.