RELATION BETWEEN FLARE ACTIVITY AND MAGNETIC COMPLEXITY OF ACTIVE REGIONS ON THE SUN

We performed a statistical analysis of selected active regions' (ARs) parameters during solar cycles 23-24 in order to investigate their flare activity. We used data on active regions, including their magnetic complexity, and flares in them from the SolarMonitor database. We supplemented this dataset with information about solar flares obtained using the XRS instrument of the GOES satellite. It is found that the solar flare occurrence rate depends on the area of the AR and its class of magnetic complexity: the larger the area and the more complex the configuration of the magnetic field, the greater is the integral flux of soft X-ray radiation from flares in this region. Class B flares occur in ARs with an area of approximately 1000 millionths in all groups. C- and M-class flares are found in ARs of all sizes and magnetic complexities. Class X flares mainly occur in ARs of the complex group with an area of more than 200 millionths; far fewer of such flares are observed in ARs of the simple group. It is shown that the flare activity of ARs (flares of classes C, M, X) increases around the maximum phase of the solar cycle and significantly decreases during the solar activity minimum. Class B flares show a different type of cyclicity: the largest number of them were detected during the ascending and descending phases of the solar cycle. On average, during the solar activity cycle, the following tendency is observed: the stronger the flares, the smaller percentage of them occur in ARs of the simple group, and the higher percentage - in ARs of the complex group. In the solar activity maximum, at least for classes B and C, the relative number of flares that occur in ARs with a complex magnetic configuration increases. During this period, the relative number of X-class flares significantly prevails in the regions of the beta gamma delta magnetic complexity class.