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

• 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
• ISSN: 0004-637X; 1538-4357
• DOI: 10.1088/0004-637X/761/1/24

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.