Testing the Alfvén-wave model of the solar wind with interplanetary scintillation

Abstract

Understanding the mechanism(s) of the solar wind acceleration is important in astrophysics and geophysics. A promising model of the solar wind acceleration is known as the wave/turbulence-driven (WTD) model, in which Alfvén waves feed energy to the solar wind. In this study, we tested the WTD model with global measurement of wind speed from interplanetary scintillation (IPS) observations. For Carrington rotations in minimal and maximal activity phases, we selected field lines calculated by the potential-field source-surface method in high- and mid-latitudes and compared the simulated and observed wind velocities. The simulation was performed in a self-consistent manner by solving the magnetohydrodynamic equations from the photosphere to the solar wind. In high-latitude regions, the simulated solar wind velocity agrees better with the IPS observation than with the classical Wang--Sheeley empirical estimation, both in maximal and minimal activity phases. In mid-latitude regions, the agreement worsens, possibly because of the inaccuracy of the WTD model and/or the magnetic-field extrapolation. Our results indicate that the high-latitude solar wind is likely to be driven by waves and turbulence, and that the physics-based prediction of the solar wind velocity is highly feasible with an improved magnetic-field extrapolation.

arXiv commentAccepted for publication in the Astrophysical Journal

References in corpus (46)

• The NumPy array: a structure for efficient numerical computation
• Self-consistent Coronal Heating and Solar Wind Acceleration from Anisotropic Magnetohydrodynamic Turbulence
• Alfven Wave Solar Model (AWSoM): Coronal Heating
• CHIANTI -- an atomic database for emission lines -- Paper XVI: Version 10, further extensions
• Improved angular momentum evolution model for solar-like stars
• A Model for the Sources of the Slow Solar Wind
• The Mass-Dependence of Angular Momentum Evolution in Sun-Like Stars
• Making the corona and the fast solar wind: a self-consistent simulation for the low-frequency Alfven waves from photosphere to 0.3AU
• A turbulence-driven model for heating and acceleration of the fast wind in coronal holes
• The effect of magnetic topology on thermally-driven winds: towards a general formulation of the braking law
• Magnetic Landscape of Sun's Polar Region
• Switchbacks in the near-Sun magnetic field: long memory and impact on the turbulence cascade
• The Sun in Time: Activity and Environment
• The Open Flux Problem
• Full-Sun observations for identifying the source of the slow solar wind
• In-situ switchback formation in the expanding solar wind
• Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather
• Magnetic connectivity of the ecliptic plane within 0.5 AU : PFSS modeling of the first PSP encounter
• Establishing a Connection Between Active Region Outflows and the Solar Wind: Abundance Measurements with EIS/Hinode
• Switchbacks as signatures of magnetic flux ropes generated by interchange reconnection in the corona
• Fluid description of multi-component solar partially ionized plasma
• The evolution of the solar wind
• The role of Alfvén wave dynamics on the large scale properties of the solar wind: comparing an MHD simulation with PSP E1 data
• Switchbacks Explained: Super-Parker Fields -- the Other Side of the Sub-Parker Spiral
• Three-dimensional simulation of the fast solar wind driven by compressible magnetohydrodynamic turbulence
• A multiple flux-tube solar wind model
• Coronal-Jet-Producing Minifilament Eruptions as a Possible Source of Parker Solar Probe (PSP) Switchbacks
• Can the Solar Wind be Driven by Magnetic Reconnection in the Sun's Magnetic Carpet?
• Self Consistent Models of the Solar Wind
• A self-consistent model of the coronal heating and solar wind acceleration including compressible and incompressible heating processes
• Mapping Solar Magnetic Fields from the Photosphere to the Base of the Corona
• Small-scale Flux Emergence, Coronal Hole Heating, and Flux-tube Expansion: A Hybrid Solar Wind Model
• Low-frequency Alfven Waves Produced by Magnetic Reconnection in the Sun's Magnetic Carpet
• Implementing the MULTI-VP coronal model in EUHFORIA: test case results and comparisons with the WSA coronal model
• Radiating Current Sheets in the Solar Chromosphere
• A new 3D solar wind speed and density model based on interplanetary scintillation
• Development of a coronal mass ejection arrival time forecasting system using interplanetary scintillation observations
• Forecasting the Ambient Solar Wind with Numerical Models. II. An Adaptive Prediction System for Specifying Solar Wind Speed Near the Sun
• The Contribution of Coronal Jets To The Solar Wind
• Validation of Coronal Mass Ejection Arrival-Time Forecasts by Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations based on Interplanetary Scintillation Observations
• Direct Detection of Solar Angular Momentum Loss with the Wind Spacecraft
• The drivers of active region outflows into the slow solar wind
• New Homogeneous Dataset of Solar EUV synoptic maps from SOHO/EIT and SDO/AIA
• The Solar Wind Angular Momentum Flux as Observed by Parker Solar Probe
• Could switchbacks originate in the lower solar atmosphere? II. Propagation of switchbacks in the solar corona
• The Formation and Lifetime of Outflows in a Solar Active Region