Improving Heliospheric Field Models with Optimized Coronal Models

Abstract:

The Solar Orbiter and Solar Probe Plus missions will travel closer to the sun than any previous mission, collecting unprecedented in situ data. This data can provide insight into coronal structure, energy transport, and evolution in the inner heliosphere. However, in order to take full advantage of this data, researchers need quality models of the inner heliosphere to connect the in situ observations to their coronal and photospheric sources. Developing quality models for this region of space has proved difficult, in part because the only part of the field that is accessible for routine measurement is the photosphere. The photospheric field measurements, though somewhat problematic, are used as boundary conditions for coronal models, which often neglect or over-simplify chromospheric conditions, and these coronal models are then used as boundary conditions to drive heliospheric models. The result is a great deal of uncertainty about the accuracy and reliability of the heliospheric models. Here we present a technique we are developing for improving global coronal magnetic field models by optimizing the models to conform to the field morphology observed in coronal images. This agreement between the coronal model and the basic morphology of the corona is essential for creating accurate heliospheric models. We will present results of early tests of two implementations of this idea, and its first application to real-world data.