Blind Stereoscopy of the Coronal Magnetic Field

We test the feasibility of 3D coronal-loop tracing in stereoscopic EUV image pairs, with the ultimate goal of enabling efficient 3D reconstruction of the coronal magnetic field that drives flares and coronal mass ejections (CMEs). We developed an automated code designed to perform triangulation of coronal loops in pairs (or triplets) of EUV images recorded from different perspectives. The automated (or blind) stereoscopy code includes three major tasks: i) automated pattern recognition of coronal loops in EUV images, ii) automated pairing of corresponding loop patterns from two different aspect angles, and iii) stereoscopic triangulation of 3D loop coordinates. We perform tests with simulated stereoscopic EUV images and quantify the accuracy of all three procedures. In addition we test the performance of the blind-stereoscopy code as a function of the spacecraft-separation angle and as a function of the spatial resolution. We also test the sensitivity to magnetic non-potentiality. The automated code developed here can be used for analysis of existing Solar TErrestrial RElationship Observatory (STEREO) data, but primarily serves for a design study of a future mission with dedicated diagnostics of non-potential magnetic fields. For a pixel size of (corresponding to the Solar Dynamics Observatory (SDO)/Atmospheric Imaging Assembly (AIA) spatial resolution of ), we find an optimum spacecraft-separation angle of alpha(s) approximate to 5 degrees.