Data Assimilative Optimization of WSA Source Surface and Interface Radii
using Particle Filtering
Abstract
The Wang-Sheeley-Arge (WSA) model estimates the solar wind speed and
interplanetary magnetic field polarity at any point in the inner
heliosphere using global photospheric magnetic field maps as input. WSA
employs the Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) and Schatten Current
Sheet (SCS) models to determine the Sun’s global coronal magnetic field
configuration. The PFSS and SCS models are connected through two radial
parameters, the source surface and interface radii, which specify the
overlap region between the inner SCS and outer PFSS model. Though both
radii are adjustable within the WSA model, they have typically been
fixed to 2.5 R sol. Our work highlights how the solar wind predictions
improve when the radii are allowed to vary over time. Data assimilation
using particle filtering (sequential Monte Carlo) is used to infer the
optimal values over a fixed time window. The Air Force Data Assimilative
Photospheric Flux Transport (ADAPT) model generates an ensemble of
photospheric maps that are used to drive WSA. When the solar wind model
predictions and satellite observations are used in a newly-developed
quality-of- agreement metric, sets of metric values are generated. These
metric values are assumed to roughly correspond to the probability of
the two key model radii. The highest metric value implies the optimal
radii. Data assimilation entails additional choices relating to input
realization and timeframe, with implications for variation in the solar
wind over time. We present this work in its theoretical context and with
practical applications for prediction accuracy.