Simulation of the Unusual Solar Minimum with 3D SIP-CESE MHD Model by Comparison with Multi-Satellite Observations

Abstract

The observations both near the Sun and in the heliosphere during the activity minimum between solar cycles 23 and 24 exhibit different phenomena from those typical of the previous solar minima. In this paper, we have chosen Carrington rotation 2070 in 2008 to investigate the properties of the background solar wind by using the three-dimensional (3D) Solar–InterPlanetary Conservation Element/Solution Element Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model. We also study the effects of polar magnetic fields on the characteristics of the solar corona and the solar wind by conducting simulations with an axisymmetric polar flux added to the observed magnetic field. The numerical results are compared with the observations from multiple satellites, such as the Solar and Heliospheric Observatory (SOHO), Ulysses, Solar Terrestrial Relations Observatory (STEREO), Wind and the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE). The comparison demonstrates that the first simulation with the observed magnetic fields reproduces some observed peculiarities near the Sun, such as relatively small polar coronal holes, the presence of mid- and low-latitude holes, a tilted and warped current sheet, and the broad multiple streamers. The numerical results also capture the inconsistency between the locus of the minimum wind speed and the location of the heliospheric current sheet, and predict slightly slower and cooler polar streams with a relatively smaller latitudinal width, broad low-latitude intermediate-speed streams, and globally weak magnetic field and low density in the heliosphere. The second simulation with strengthened polar fields indicates that the weak polar fields in the current minimum play a crucial role in determining the states of the corona and the solar wind.