Variability of extended bipolar regions

Using NSO/Kitt Peak synoptic charts from 1975 to 2003, we group the main solar magnetic fields into two categories: one for active regions (ARs) and the other for extended bipolar regions (EBRs). Comparing them, we find that there exist three typical characteristics in the variability of EBRs: First, there exists a correlation between ARs and EBRs. The phase of EBR flux has a delay nearly two CRs. Second, we find that the EBR flux has two prominent periods at 1.79 years and 3.21 years. The 1.79-year period seems to only belong to large-scale magnetic features. Lastly, the North∈-∈South asymmetry of EBR flux is not very significant on a time scale of one solar cycle. However, during solar maxima, its dominance is found to shift from one hemisphere to the other.