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SPACE WEATHER, VOL. 5, S11003, doi:10.1029/2006SW000296, 2007

Solar wind parameters for magnetospheric magnetic field modeling

Z. Qin

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA


R. E. Denton

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA


N. A. Tsyganenko

USRA, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, Maryland, USA


S. Wolf

Department of Physics and Astronomy, Michigan State University, East Lansing, Michigan, USA


Abstract

Magnetospheric magnetic field models are crucial for many space weather applications. However, the latest empirical models require solar wind and IMF data, which are not always available. Data gaps are especially common for times before the launch of the WIND spacecraft at the end of 1994, but even after then there are data gaps. We present a method to interpolate the solar wind characteristics across data gaps and to evaluate the W parameters needed for the TS05 model (Tsyganenko and Sitnov, 2005). Within some distance from the edge of a data gap, the solar wind parameters from our method yield a better estimate of the observed magnetic field than that which could be found using average values of the parameters. Deep within data gaps (far from measured values), the interpolated parameters are reasonable, or typical values, no better or worse than average values. We have created a database of hourly data with solar wind characteristics, G, and W parameters from 1963 to 31 May 2007, which is sufficient for use in all the Tsyganenko models, including the latest TS05 model. Our comparisons of the model and observed magnetic field at geosynchronous orbit give an estimate of the error in the model field as a function of status parameters defined by the interpolation scheme. We also show that the model field is on average just as accurate using the hourly data as that based on 5 min data (at least at geosynchronous orbit).

Received 12 October 2006; accepted 12 August 2007; published 22 November 2007.

Keywords: magnetic field models; solar wind parameters.

Index Terms: 2740 Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics; 2753 Magnetospheric Physics: Numerical modeling; 7833 Space Plasma Physics: Mathematical and numerical techniques (0500, 3200); 7959 Space Weather: Models.

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Citation: Qin, Z., R. E. Denton, N. A. Tsyganenko, and S. Wolf (2007), Solar wind parameters for magnetospheric magnetic field modeling, Space Weather, 5, S11003, doi:10.1029/2006SW000296.