MHD Modeling of the Solar Corona and Inner Heliosphere: Comparison with Observations

In this paper, we describe a 3-dimensional MHD algorithm that provides a global picture of the solar corona and inner heliosphere. For computational efficiency, we split the modeling region into two distinct parts: the solar corona (1 solar radius, R-s, to 30 R-s) and the inner heliosphere (30 R-s to 1-5 AU). This combined model is driven solely by the observed line-of-sight photospheric magnetic field and thus can provide a realistic global picture of the corona and heliosphere for specific time periods of interest. We validate the model results by comparing them with a variety of observations, including white-light images and in situ measurements. We also point out the main limitations of the model and our approaches toward resolving them. Ultimately, we plan to migrate this research model into an operational tool, with the goal of predicting geo-effective solar wind conditions with up to 4 days advance warning.