The PI will combine data analysis and modeling to investigate the degree to which the Sun's magnetic flux opens into the heliosphere and how this flux varies during the course of the solar cycle. He intends to explore the conjecture that Wang and Sheeley (1995) incorrectly applied the Mount Wilson Observatory correction factor to Wilcox Solar Observatory magnetograms. Among other issues, the PI plans to study the contribution of interplanetary CMEs to the magnetic flux measured at 1 AU by interplanetary spacecraft, to determine the best correction factors to apply to synoptic magnetograms from various solar observatories, and to deduce the implications of these results for theories of magnetic flux transport in the solar corona and the build-up of magnetic flux in the heliosphere.
This research is relevant to the National Space Weather Program and SHINE. The PI asserts that understanding the basic magnetic structure of the solar corona and how it connects to the heliosphere is a prerequisite to eventually predicting space weather effects. The objectives of this project directly address questions raised by working group sessions at the recent 2006 SHINE workshop.
