Three Dimensional Simulations of Solar Wind Preconditioning and the 23 July 2012 Interplanetary Coronal Mass Ejection
arXiv:2009.02392 · doi:10.1007/s11207-020-01700-5
Abstract
Predicting the large-scale eruptions from the solar corona and their propagation through interplanetary space remains an outstanding challenge in solar- and helio-physics research. In this article, we describe three dimensional magnetohydrodynamic simulations of the inner heliosphere leading up to and including the extreme interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) of 23 July 2012, developed using the code PLUTO. The simulations are driven using the output of coronal models for Carrington rotations 2125 and 2126 and, given the uncertainties in the initial conditions, are able to reproduce an event of comparable magnitude to the 23 July ICME, with similar velocity and density profiles at 1 au. The launch-time of this event is then varied with regards to an initial 19 July ICME and the effects of solar wind preconditioning are found to be significant for an event of this magnitude and to decrease over a time-window consistent with the ballistic refilling of the depleted heliospheric sector. These results indicate that the 23 July ICME was mostly unaffected by events prior, but would have travelled even faster had it erupted closer in time to the 19 July event where it would have experienced even lower drag forces. We discuss this systematic study of solar wind preconditioning in the context of space weather forecasting.
17 pages, 5 figures, 1 table. Solar Physics accepted 26 August 2020
References in corpus (14)
- PLUTO: a Numerical Code for Computational Astrophysics
- Observations of an extreme storm in interplanetary space caused by successive coronal mass ejections
- Three-Dimensional MHD Simulation of the 2003 October 28 Coronal Mass Ejection: Comparison with LASCO Coronagraph Observations
- Super-elastic Collision of Large-scale Magnetized Plasmoids in The Heliosphere
- Interplanetary Propagation Behavior of the Fast Coronal Mass Ejection from 23 July 2012
- Preconditioning of interplanetary space due to transient CME disturbances
- Simulating the environment around planet-hosting stars - II. Stellar winds and inner astrospheres
- Three-dimensional evolution of erupted flux ropes from the Sun (2-20 Rs) to 1 AU
- Full Halo Coronal Mass Ejections: Arrival at the Earth
- Propagation of the 2012 March Coronal Mass Ejections from the Sun to Heliopause
- 3D MHD modeling of twisted coronal loops
- Magnetic braking of Sun-like and low-mass stars: Dependence on coronal temperature
- A Comparative Study of 2017 July and 2012 July Complex Eruptions: Are Solar Superstorms "Perfect Storms" in Nature?
- Guided flows in coronal magnetic flux tubes