Comparing the Performance of a Solar Wind Model from the Sun to 1 au Using Real and Synthetic Magnetograms

Abstract

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 simulations. We perform a quantitative study that compares the space weather modeling framework (SWMF) results for the observed and synthetic solar magnetogram input. For each case, we compare the results for extreme ultraviolet images and extract the simulation data along the Earth trajectory to compare with in situ observations. We initialize the SWMF using the real and synthetic magnetograms for a set of Carrington rotations within 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.