Magnetic connectivity of the ecliptic plane within 0.5 AU : PFSS modeling of the first PSP encounter

Abstract

We compare magnetic field measurements taken by the FIELDS instrument on Parker Solar Probe (PSP) during its first solar encounter to predictions obtained by Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) modeling. Ballistic propagation is used to connect the spacecraft to the source surface. Despite the simplicity of the model, our results show striking agreement with PSPs first observations of the heliospheric magnetic field from 0.5 AU (107.5 Rs) down to 0.16 AU (35.7 Rs). Further, we show the robustness of the agreement is improved both by allowing the photospheric input to the model to vary in time, and by advecting the field from PSP down to the PFSS model domain using in situ PSP/SWEAP measurements of the solar wind speed instead of assuming it to be constant with longitude and latitude. We also explore the source surface height parameter (RSS) to the PFSS model finding that an extraordinarily low source surface height (1.3-1.5Rs) predicts observed small scale polarity inversions which are otherwise washed out with regular modeling parameters. Finally, we extract field line traces from these models. By overlaying these on EUV images we observe magnetic connectivity to various equatorial and mid-latitude coronal holes indicating plausible magnetic footpoints and offering context for future discussions of sources of the solar wind measured by PSP.

19 Pages, 8 Main Figures, 3 Appendix Figures

References in corpus (9)

• The Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) Vector Magnetic Field Pipeline: Overview and Performance
• Switchbacks in the near-Sun magnetic field: long memory and impact on the turbulence cascade
• The role of Alfvén wave dynamics on the large scale properties of the solar wind: comparing an MHD simulation with PSP E1 data
• Predicting the Structure of the Solar Corona and Inner Heliosphere during Parker Solar Probe's First Perihelion Pass
• Energetic Particle Increases Associated with Stream Interaction Regions
• Global solar magnetic field organization in the outer corona: influence on the solar wind speed and mass flux over the cycle
• Observations of Slow Solar Wind from Equatorial Coronal Holes
• Predicting the Solar Wind at Parker Solar Probe Using an Empirically Driven MHD Model
• CME -Associated Energetic Ions at 0.23 AU -- Consideration of the Auroral Pressure Cooker Mechanism Operating in the Low Corona as a Possible Energization Process

Cited by in corpus (75)

• The Solar Orbiter mission -- Science overview
• The Evolution and Role of Solar Wind Turbulence in the Inner Heliosphere
• Switchbacks in the near-Sun magnetic field: long memory and impact on the turbulence cascade
• Parker Solar Probe: Four Years of Discoveries at Solar Cycle Minimum
• Ion Scale Electromagnetic Waves in the Inner Heliosphere
• A solar source of Alfvénic magnetic field switchbacks: {\em in situ} remnants of magnetic funnels on supergranulation scales
• Interchange reconnection as the source of the fast solar wind within coronal holes
• Parker Solar Probe In-Situ Observations of Magnetic Reconnection Exhausts During Encounter 1
• Critical Science Plan for the Daniel K. Inouye Solar Telescope (DKIST)
• The role of Alfvén wave dynamics on the large scale properties of the solar wind: comparing an MHD simulation with PSP E1 data
• Cross Helicity Reversals In Magnetic Switchbacks
• In situ observations of large amplitude Alfvén waves heating and accelerating the solar wind
• Characteristic scales of magnetic switchback patches near the Sun and their possible association with solar supergranulation and granulation
• Switchbacks: statistical properties and deviations from alfvénicity
• Sunward propagating whistler waves collocated with localized magnetic field holes in the solar wind: Parker Solar Probe observations at 35.7 Sun radii
• Inner-Heliosphere Signatures of Ion-Scale Dissipation and Nonlinear Interaction
• Coronal Electron Temperature inferred from the Strahl Electrons in the Inner Heliosphere: Parker Solar Probe and Helios observations
• Electron heat flux in the near-Sun environment
• The Enhancement of Proton Stochastic Heating in the near-Sun Solar Wind
• The Near-Sun Streamer Belt Solar Wind: Turbulence and Solar Wind Acceleration
• Prediction and Verification of Parker Solar Probe Solar Wind Sources at 13.3 R${}_{\odot }$
• Direct evidence for magnetic reconnection at the boundaries of magnetic switchbacks with Parker Solar Probe
• The Electromagnetic Signature of Outward Propagating Ion-Scale Waves
• Measurement of the Open Magnetic Flux in the Inner Heliosphere down to 0.13AU
• Coherent events at ion scales in the inner Heliosphere: \textit{Parker Solar Probe} observations during the first Encounter
• Flux ropes and dynamics of the heliospheric current sheet
• Magnetograph Saturation and the Open Flux Problem
• Using Parker Solar Probe observations during the first four perihelia to constrain global magnetohydrodynamic models
• Kinetic-scale current sheets in near-Sun solar wind: properties, scale-dependent features and reconnection onset
• Multiscale Solar Wind Turbulence Properties inside and near Switchbacks measured by Parker Solar Probe
• The source of the major solar energetic particle events from super active region 11944
• Detailed imaging of coronal rays with the Parker Solar Probe
• Large-scale Structure and Turbulence Transport in the Inner Solar Wind -- Comparison of Parker Solar Probe's First Five Orbits with a Global 3D Reynolds-averaged MHD Model
• Quantifying the Energy Budget in the Solar Wind from 13.3-100 Solar Radii
• Constraining Global Coronal Models with Multiple Independent Observables
• Active region contributions to the solar wind over multiple solar cycles
• Predicting Solar Wind Streams from the Inner-Heliosphere to Earth via Shifted Operator Inference
• The active region source of a type III radio storm observed by Parker Solar Probe during Encounter 2
• On the Generation and Evolution of Switchbacks and the Morphology of Alfvénic Transition: Low Mach-number Boundary Layers
• Linking the Sun to the Heliosphere Using Composition Data and Modelling. A Test Case with a Coronal Jet
• The preferential orientation of magnetic switchbacks, implications for solar magnetic flux transport
• Predicting the Solar Wind at Parker Solar Probe Using an Empirically Driven MHD Model
• Global Coronal Equilibria with Solar Wind Outflow
• Parker Solar Probe Observations of High Plasma Beta Solar Wind from Streamer Belt
• Compositional metrics of fast and slow Alfvenic solar wind emerging from coronal holes and their boundaries
• Periodicities in an active region correlated with Type III radio bursts observed by Parker Solar Probe
• Source-dependent properties of two slow solar wind states
• The S-Web Origin of Composition Enhancement in the Slow-to-Moderate Speed Solar Wind
• New insights into the first two PSP solar encounters enabled by modeling analysis with ADAPT-WSA
• Long-term forcing of Sun's coronal field, open flux and cosmic ray modulation potential during grand minima, maxima and regular activity phases by the solar dynamo mechanism
• An elliptic expansion of the potential field source surface model
• Parker Solar Probe Observations of Suprathermal Electron Flux Enhancements Originating from Coronal Hole Boundaries
• Multi-spacecraft Study of the Solar Wind at Solar Minimum: Dependence on Latitude and Transient Outflows
• Analysis of the distribution, rotation and scale characteristics of solar wind switchbacks: comparison between the first and second encounters of Parker Solar Probe
• Near subsonic solar wind outflow from an active region
• Estimating uncertainties in the back-mapping of the fast solar wind
• Switchback Deflections Beyond the Early Parker Solar Probe Encounters
• Sensitivity of solar wind mass flux to coronal temperature
• Total Solar Eclipse White Light Images as a Benchmark for PFSS Coronal Magnetic Field Models: An In-Depth Analysis over a Solar Cycle
• Accounting for Differential Rotation in Calculations of the Sun's Angular Momentum-loss Rate
• Is Solar Minimum 24/25 Another Unusual One?
• The Minimal Helicity of Solar Coronal Magnetic Fields
• Testing the flux tube expansion factor -- solar wind speed relation with Solar Orbiter data
• Magnetohydrodynamic simulation of coronal mass ejections using interplanetary scintillation data observed from radio sites ISEE and LOFAR
• Matching temporal signatures of solar features to their corresponding solar wind outflows
• On the scaling and anisotropy of two subranges in the inertial range of solar wind turbulence
• Solar Wind Structures from the Gaussianity of Magnetic Magnitude
• Evaluation of Coronal and Interplanetary Magnetic Field Extrapolation Using PSP Solar Wind Observation
• Scaling anisotropy with stationary background field in the near-Sun solar wind turbulence
• Helium Abundance Periods Observed by the Solar Probe Cup on Parker Solar Probe: Encounters 1-14
• Nested active regions anchor the heliospheric current sheet and stall the reversal of the coronal magnetic field
• Magnetic connectivity from the Sun to the Earth with MHD models I. Impact of the magnetic modelling for connectivity validation
• Reconstructing the Sun's Alfvén surface and wind braking torque with Parker Solar Probe
• Testing the Alfvén-wave model of the solar wind with interplanetary scintillation
• Investigating the Relationship Between Physical Properties and Spatial Irregularities at Coronal Hole Boundaries