Evolving Nonlinear Force-Free Magnetic Models of the Solar Corona

ROSES ID: NNH07ZDA001N      Selection Year: 2008      

Program Element: Focused Science Topic

Principal Investigator: Marc DeRosa

Affiliation(s): Lockheed Martin ATC

Project Member(s):
Cheung, Chun Ming Mark Co-I Lockheed Martin
Abbett, William P Collaborator Space Sciences Laboratory
Tarbell, Ted Collaborator Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center
Hurlburt, Neal E Collaborator Lockheed Martin Advanced Technology Center

Summary:

Despite considerable progress in observing the structure and evolution of the solar corona, the root causes of many phenomena remain elusive. The dynamics associated with coronal heating processes, particle acceleration mechanisms, and instabilities that lead to eruptive events such as flares and coronal mass ejections are all not well understood. Lack of progress in advancing our knowledge is a result of our inability to accurately map out the three-dimensional geometry of the coronal magnetic field and to observe its evolution in time. Because the three-dimensional coronal magnetic field does not easily lend itself to direct observation, much recent effort has been put toward modeling the coronal magnetic field using photospheric magnetograms.



We are proposing here to construct an evolving nonlinear force-free model of the three-dimensional coronal magnetic field driven by time series of photospheric magnetogram data. Evolving models represent a complementary approach to standard coronal field modeling, in which extrapolations are performed from a single magnetogram. Instead, our scheme will make use of high-cadence time series of vector magnetogram data derived from instruments such as the Solar Optical Telescope (SOT) on Hinode and the upcoming Helioseismic and Magnetic Imager (HMI) on the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO). Such evolving models of the coronal magnetic field enable the dynamics of the solar corona above active regions to be investigated in greater detail, allowing us to investigate questions involving the geometry and topology of the coronal magnetic field, the effects of photospheric flux emergence on this geometry, and the buildup and release of magnetic energy and helicity over time.

Publications:

Performance Year	Reference	Investigation Type	Actions
1	Wiegelmann, T.; Thalmann, J. K.; Schrijver, C. J.; D...	not set
1	Schrijver, C. J.; DeRosa, M. L.; Metcalf, T.; Barnes...	not set
1	De Rosa, Marc L.; Schrijver, Carolus J.; Barnes, Gra...	not set
1	Aschwanden, Markus J.; Wuelser, Jean-Pierre; Nitta, Na...	not set
1	Guo, Y.; Ding, M. D.; Liu, Y.; Sun, X. D.; DeRosa,...	not set
1	Gopalswamy, N.; Yashiro, S.; Michalek, G.; Stenborg, ...	not set

Presentations:

Performance Year	Reference	Actions
1	Wiegelmann, T.; Thalmann, J. K.; Schrijver, C. J.; D...
1	Cheung, C.; Derosa, M. L.; (2010), Data-Driven Simulations o...
1	Cheung, M.; DeRosa, M. L.; (2011), Data-driven Simulatio...
1	Malanushenko, A. V.; DeRosa, M. L.; Schrijver, C. J....
1	Gopalswamy, Nat; Yashiro, Seiji; Akiyama, Sachiko; Fre...

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