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The crucial role of surface magnetic fields for the solar dynamo

Sunspots and the plethora of other phenomena occuring in the course of the 11-year cycle of solar activity are a consequence of the emergence of magnetic flux at the solar surface. The observed orientations of bipolar sunspot groups imply that they originate from toroidal (azimuthally orientated) magnetic flux in the convective envelope of the Sun. We show that the net toroidal magnetic flux generated by differential rotation within a hemisphere of the convection zone is determined by the emerged magnetic flux at the solar surface and thus can be calculated from the observed magnetic field distribution. The main source of the toroidal flux is the roughly dipolar surface magnetic field at the polar caps, which peaks around the minima of the activity cycle.