Possible Estimation of the Solar Cycle Characteristic Parameters by the 10.7 cm Solar Radio Flux

Two independent methods for estimating basic parameters of the solar cycle are presented. The first of them, the ascending-descending triangle method, is based on a previous work by Tritakis (Astrophys. Space Sci. 82, 463, 1982), which described how the fundamental parameters of a certain solar cycle could be predicted from the shape of the previous one. The relation between the two cycles before and after a specific 11-year solar cycle is tighter than between the two cycles belonging to the same 22-year solar cycle (even-odd cycle). The second is the MinimaxX method, which uses a significant relation in the international sunspot number between the maximum value of a solar cycle and its value 2.5 or 3 years (depending on the enumeration of the even or odd cycle) before the preceding minimum. The tests applied to Cycles 12 to 24 indicate that both methods can estimate the peak of the 11-year solar radio flux at a high confidence level. The data used in this study are the 10.7 cm solar radio flux since 1947, which have been extrapolated back to 1848 from the strong correlation between the monthly international sunspot numbers and the adjusted values of the 10.7 cm radio flux.