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The Solar Wind at 1 AU During the Declining Phase of Solar Cycle 23: Comparison of 3D Numerical Model Results with Observations

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Abstract

We present results of solar-wind parameters generated by 3D MHD models. The ENLIL inner-heliosphere solar-wind model together with the MAS or Wang – Sheeley – Arge (WSA) coronal models, describe the steady solar-wind stream structure and its origins in the solar corona. The MAS/ENLIL and WSA/ENLIL models have been tuned to provide a simulation of plasma moments as well as interplanetary magnetic-field magnitude and polarity in the absence of disturbances from coronal transients. To investigate how well the models describe the ambient solar wind structure from the Sun out to 1 AU, the model results are compared to solar-wind measurements from the ACE spacecraft. We find that there is an overall agreement between the observations and the model results for the general large-scale solar-wind structures and trends, such as the timing of the high-density structures and the low- and high-speed winds, as well as the magnetic sector structures. The time period of our study is the declining phase of Solar Cycle 23 when the solar activity involves well-defined stream structure, which is ideal for testing a quasi-steady-state solar-wind model.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    C. O. Lee & J. G. Luhmann

  2. Department of Earth and Planetary Science, University of California, Berkeley, CA, USA

    C. O. Lee & I. de Pater

  3. Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences, University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA

    D. Odstrcil

  4. Department of Physics, Drexel University, Philadelphia, PA, USA

    P. J. MacNeice

  5. Science Applications International Corporation, San Diego, CA, USA

    P. Riley

  6. Air Force Research Laboratory/Space Vehicles Directorate, Kirtland Air Force Base, NM, USA

    C. N. Arge

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  1. C. O. Lee
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  2. J. G. Luhmann
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  5. I. de Pater
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  7. C. N. Arge
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Correspondence to C. O. Lee.

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Lee, C.O., Luhmann, J.G., Odstrcil, D. et al. The Solar Wind at 1 AU During the Declining Phase of Solar Cycle 23: Comparison of 3D Numerical Model Results with Observations. Sol Phys 254, 155–183 (2009). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-008-9280-y

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