The Coronal Global Evolutionary Model: Using HMI Vector Magnetogram and Doppler Data to Determine Coronal Magnetic Field Evolution

The Coronal Global Evolutionary Model (CGEM) provides data-driven simulations of the magnetic field in the solar corona to better understand the build-up of magnetic energy that leads to eruptive events. The CGEM project has developed six capabilities. CGEM modules (1) prepare time series of full-disk vector magnetic field observations to (2) derive the changing electric field in the solar photosphere over active-region scales. This local electric field is (3) incorporated into a surface flux transport model that reconstructs a global electric field that evolves magnetic flux in a consistent way. These electric fields drive a (4) 3D spherical magnetofrictional (SMF) model, either at high resolution over a restricted range of solid angles or at lower resolution over a global domain to determine the magnetic field and current density in the low corona. An SMF-generated initial field above an active region and the evolving electric field at the photosphere are used to drive (5) detailed magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations of active regions in the low corona. SMF or MHD solutions are then used to compute emissivity proxies that can be compared with coronal observations. Finally, a lower-resolution SMF magnetic field is used to initialize (6) a global MHD model that is driven by an SMF electric field time series to simulate the outer corona and heliosphere, ultimately connecting Sun to Earth. As a demonstration, this report features results of CGEM applied to observations of the evolution of NOAA Active Region 11158 in 2011 February.