Comparing the Performance of a Solar Wind model from the Sun to 1 AU using Real and Synthetic Magnetograms

Authors: Kalpa Henadhira Arachchige (Department of Physics & Applied Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA), Ofer Cohen (Department of Physics & Applied Physics, University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA), Andres Munoz Jaramillo (Southwest Research Institute Boulder, CO, USA), Anthony R. Yeates (Department of Mathematical Sciences, Durham University, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham DH1 3LE, UK)

The input of the Solar wind models plays a significant role in accurate solar wind predictions at 1 AU. This work introduces a synthetic magnetogram produced from a dynamo model as an input for Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) simulations. We perform a quantitative study that compares the Space Weather Modeling Framework (SWMF) results for the observed and the synthetic solar magnetogram input. For each case, we compare the results for Extreme Ultra-Violet (EUV) images and extract the simulation data along the earth trajectory to compare with in-situ observations. We initialize SWMF using the real and synthetic magnetogram for a set of Carrington Rotations (CR)s within the solar cycles 23 and 24. Our results help quantify the ability of dynamo models to be used as input to solar wind models and, thus, provide predictions for the solar wind at 1 AU.