Paper detail

Solar Magnetic Carpet III: Coronal Modelling of Synthetic Magnetograms

This paper is the third in a series of papers working towards the construction of a realistic, evolving, non-linear force-free coronal field model for the solar magnetic carpet. Here, we present preliminary results of 3D time-dependent simulations of the small-scale coronal field of the magnetic carpet. Four simulations are considered, each with the same evolving photospheric boundary condition: a 48 hr time series of synthetic magnetograms produced from the model of Meyer, Mackay, van Ballegooijen and Parnell, 2011, Solar Phys., 272, 29. Three simulations include a uniform, overlying coronal magnetic field of differing strength, the fourth simulation includes no overlying field. The build-up, storage and dissipation of magnetic energy within the simulations is studied. In particular, we study their dependence upon the evolution of the photospheric magnetic field and the strength of the overlying coronal field. We also consider where energy is stored and dissipated within the coronal field. The free magnetic energy built up is found to be more than sufficient to power small-scale, transient phenomena such as nanoflares and X-ray bright points, with the bulk of the free energy found to be stored low down, between 0.5-0.8 Mm. The energy dissipated is presently found to be too small to account for the heating of the entire quiet Sun corona. However, the form and location of energy dissipation regions are in qualitative agreement with what is observed on small scales on the Sun. Future MHD modelling using the same synthetic magnetograms may lead to a higher energy release.