ポテンシャルモデルによるコロナ磁場三次元構造の可視化

概要

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Coronal plasmas are heated and accelerated by thermal conduction and other unknown mechanisms and continuously flow out to interplanetary space as the solar wind. The solar wind stretches out the coronal magnetic field (CMF) into interplanetary space because of its high electric conductivity, producing the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Since the IMF plays important roles in active phenomena in the Earth's magnetosphere, it is important to study relationships between the CMF and the IMF in understanding solar-terrestrial relationships. The CMF can not be directly measured by ground-based or in situ observations. Therefore the CMF is extrapolated by the so-called 'potential model' with the photospheric magnetic field (PMF) measured by ground-based observations, assuming the current-free corona and the zero-potential spherical surface. Two kinds of potential models, the 'Line-of-Sight model' and the 'Radial Field model', devised by the author are introduced and applied to the real PMF observed at the NSO, Kitt Peak, USA, in the solar maximum and minimum phases.