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Magnetic Lasso: A New Kinematic Solar Wind Propagation Method

Magnetic Lasso Propagation

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Abstract

Solar wind propagation from the point of measurement to an arbitrary target in the heliosphere is an important input for heliospheric, planetary and cometary studies. In this paper a new kinematic propagation method, the magnetic lasso method is presented. Compared to the simple ballistic approach our method is based on reconstructing the ideal Parker spiral connecting the target with the Sun by testing a previously defined range of heliographic longitudes. The model takes into account the eventual evolution of stream–stream interactions and handles these with a simple model based on the dynamic pressure difference between the two streams. Special emphasis is given to input data cleaning by handling interplanetary coronal mass ejection events as data gaps due to their different propagation characteristics. The solar wind bulk velocity is considered radial and constant. Density and radial magnetic field are propagated by correcting with the inverse square of the radial distance. The model has the advantage that it can be coded easily and fitted to the problem; it is flexible in selecting and handling input data and requires little running time.

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Acknowledgements

We thank K.C. Hansen and B. Zieger for providing solar wind propagations from their Michigan Solar Wind Model ( http://mswim.engin.umich.edu/ ). We also thank Géza Erdős, Zoltán Németh and Gábor Facskó for useful discussions, Klaudia Szabó, Anikó Timár and Lajos Földy for technical assistance. We acknowledge Elena Budnik and all the staff of CDPP and IC for the use of the AMDA database, supported by CNRS, CNES, Observatoire de Paris and Université Paul Sabatier, Toulouse. The authors acknowledge the MEX IMA Experiment team and the OMNI database team for available data.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department for Space Physics and Space Technology, Institute for Particle and Nuclear Physics, Wigner Research Centre for Physics, Hungarian Academy of Sciences, 1121, Budapest, Konkoly-Thege Miklós st 29-33, Hungary

    M. Dósa, A. Opitz, Z. Dálya & K. Szegő

  2. Department of Astronomy, of the Eötvös Loránd University, 1117, Budapest, Pázmány Péter sétány 1, Hungary

    Z. Dálya

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  1. M. Dósa
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  2. A. Opitz
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  3. Z. Dálya
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  4. K. Szegő
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Correspondence to M. Dósa.

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Dósa, M., Opitz, A., Dálya, Z. et al. Magnetic Lasso: A New Kinematic Solar Wind Propagation Method. Sol Phys 293, 127 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11207-018-1340-3

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