CORONAL MASS EJECTION RECONSTRUCTION FROM THREE VIEWPOINTS VIA SIMULATION MORPHING. I. THEORY AND EXAMPLES

The problem of reconstructing the three-dimensional (3D) density distribution of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from three simultaneous coronagraph observations is timely in that the COR1 and COR2 coronagraphs on the dual-spacecraft STEREO mission complement the LASCO coronagraphs on the SOHO satelli...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Astrophysical journal 2012-12, Vol.761 (1), p.1-8
Main Author: FRAZIN, Richard A
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
ASTRONOMY
ASTROPHYSICS
ASTROPHYSICS, COSMOLOGY AND ASTRONOMY
Computer simulation
COMPUTERIZED SIMULATION
Coronagraphs
Coronal mass ejection
DENSITY
Earth, ocean, space
Exact sciences and technology
IMAGE PROCESSING
Launches
MAGNETOHYDRODYNAMICS
MASS
MHD
Reconstruction
SOLAR CORONA
SUN
Three dimensional
THREE-DIMENSIONAL CALCULATIONS
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Summary:The problem of reconstructing the three-dimensional (3D) density distribution of a coronal mass ejection (CME) from three simultaneous coronagraph observations is timely in that the COR1 and COR2 coronagraphs on the dual-spacecraft STEREO mission complement the LASCO coronagraphs on the SOHO satellite and the Mk4 on Mauna Loa. While the separation angle between the STEREO spacecraft and the Earth depends on the time since the launch in 2006, the reconstruction problem is always severely underinformed. So far, all 3D reconstruction efforts have made use of relatively simple parameterized models in order to determine the 3D structure of the CME. Such approaches do not utilize the power of 3D MHD simulation to inform the reconstruction. This paper considers the situation in which a specific CME event observed in coronagraphs from three viewpoints is later simulated by solving MHD equations. The reconstruction is then subjected to an invertible morphological operator chosen so that morphed MHD simulation is most consistent with the three-viewpoint coronagraph data. The morphological operations are explained mathematically and synthetic examples are given. The practical application to reconstructing CMEs from STEREO and SOHO data is discussed.
ISSN:0004-637X
1538-4357
DOI:10.1088/0004-637X/761/1/24