SHINE: Using Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) Simulations to Test Methods of Measuring Photospheric Velocities

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

Numerical simulations aimed at forecasting solar Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs) require specification of the actual velocity field of the plasma at the solar photosphere. This information must be "derived" from proxy magnetogram observations, and this can lead to errors and inaccuracies in the inferred flow fields. Realistic numerical simulations of solar magnetoconvection will be employed to simulate synthetic magnetograms. Then using schemes provided by observers in the SHINE community the velocity field will be "derived" through, (i) local-correlation tracking, (ii) feature tracking, and (iii) minimum energy fitting techniques. By comparing these inferred velocity fields against the known flows one may, (i) identify which methods most accurately determine velocities, (ii) characterize pathologies in the methods, (iii) suggest ways to remedy these pathologies, and (iv) disseminate these results to the many users of these methods in the solar physics/SHINE communities.