Analysis of the 5 min oscillatory photospheric motion. II. Statistical analysis of the oscillation as a narrow-band random process

A more objective statistical technique is applied directly to the four time series used in Paper I. The empirical probability density functions indicate that the measurements are realizations of a narrow-band random process with Gaussian statistics. This result allows quantitative statistical use of the mean autocorrelation function. For example, a characteristic correlation time is 23 min, and the motion becomes statistically uncorrelated over intervals greater than 40 min. The mean autocorrelation function is found to be free of secondary maxima that have been so troublesome in other analyses. The question raised in this paper is whether our statistical model of the motion as a Gaussian random process is also applicable to smaller regions on the order of 1'' to 2'' in size. (auth)