Are Potential Field Source Surface models from different magnetic maps sufficiently robust to track the evolution of the coronal magnetic topology?

The geometry, connectivity, and topology of the large-scale coronal magnetic field play a key role in determining whether a solar reconnection event will result in an eruption, either by influencing the location where magnetic reconnection releases energy for an event, or by determining the pathways and access to open field that allow an eruption to proceed. Knowing how reliably the coronal magnetic field can be inferred is critical to understanding its role in energetic events. Potential Field Source Surface (PFSS) models are a commonly used tool for both modeling the coronal field itself, and as input to other models. Multiple methods exist for generating the boundary condition needed for a PFSS model. We present here results of examining how robust the PFSS model topology is to different boundary maps, as measured by the presence of coronal magnetic null points and solar wind predictions from the Wang-Sheely-Arge (WSA) model, and characterize the evolution of these null points within a given model.

This material is based upon work supported by NASA under award No. 80NSSC19K0087. Any opinions, findings, and conclusions or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.