Spacecraft : Select a planet/spacecraft to connect magnetically to the Sun
Coronal Magnetic field : Select a coronal model to connect photosphere-upper corona
Interplanetary magnetic field : Select solar wind model to connect upper corona - planet/spacecraft
Propagation mode : Select the type of propagation either instantaneous (EM LAG) or at a constant solar wind plasma speed (SW LAG)
When Sun -> SC is selected with the SW lag, the departure time at the Sun (Suntime) may not match exactly the time requested by the user in the form, because reverse propagation is not a one-to-one association. Indeed, the variability of solar wind speed may prevent the Parker spiral to allow an association between Sctime for a given Suntime.
Time & Date : Choose the date you like and then select between 4 different times : 00:00; 06:00, 12:00, 18:00. TIME is UTC
You cannot choose a date before 2016-01-01 and past 10 days from current date.
Reliability Test (WL) Assess the reliability of the coronal magnetic reconstruction. Compare the Heliospheric Current Sheet (HCS) produced by the magnetic reconstruction with the Maximum Streamer Beam observed in White Light imagery.
We are currently working on an API. The user will be able to download maps and parameters files without using the form, only by building an URL following certain rules.
FIREFOX IS RECOMMENDED FOR THIS PART
If you only need parameters files, this is your way. Construct your URl in the same way than before, just change 'api' by 'json_api'. Welp, this is not really a JSON API, files are ascii format, but you can download them in json from Firefox.
Unfortunatlly, you cannot download the files with Chrome but you can still view them.
More tests need to be run for this part. Please be aware that this is a work in progress.
If you're using a SAFARI browser, you need to enter the DATE manually, following this format : YEAR-MONTH-DAY
YEAR is four digits (like 2019), MONTH is two (like 05) and DAY two digits also (like 23)
Here is a full and functionnal example : 2019-05-23
Try different TIME for a DATE, sometimes there are some maps but not at the TIME you think.
For more information on the Magnetic Connectivity Tool and its role for the Solar Orbiter mission, we refer the user to the article published by ESA's Modelling and Data Analysis Working Group (MADAWG): Rouillard et al. 2020 (https://www.aanda.org/component/article?access=doi&doi=10.1051/0004-6361/201935305" ).
2D ecliptic plots are produced from the Solar-MACH github code (https://github.com/solar-mach/Solar-MACH.github.io), which was slightly modified to enable overplotting multiple Parker spirals for each body. The Solar-MACH tool was originally developed at Kiel University, Germany and further discussed within the ESA Heliophysics Archives USer (HAUS, https://www.cosmos.esa.int/web/esdc/archives-user-groups/heliophysics) group (original code: https://github.com/solar-mach/Solar-MACH.github.io).
Data availability: the Magnetic Connectivity Tool collects data from a wide range of data providers. These data pipelines may be temporarily interrupted for a multitude of possible reasons such as for instance issues with the ground-based and spaceborne observatories making the measurement or interrupted data transfers. As soon as the data transfer is resumed the Magnetic Connectivity Tool repopulates its database with all the available data. Consequently when a feature is not available in the tool, we recommend that you try the tool a day later. If the issue persists please send us a message so we can isolate the issue and act to resolve the problem as quickly as we can.
Limitations of PFSS: the PFSS model used in the Magnetic Connectivity Tool is the simplest approach to model the magnetic field of the solar corona. It has the advantage that it is simple to develop and implement and requires relatively modest computer resources. It assumes that the solar magnetic field is in a potential state and therefore has no electric currents. This potential field assumption should be considered as representative of a ‘minimum energy state’ that the corona tends towards during quiet solar conditions, i.e. when there are no Coronal Mass Ejections or other strong disturbances. PFSS models cannot directly incorporate time-dependent phenomena, such as magnetic reconnection, and do not include plasma or its effects. When the corona is disturbed by strong eruptions, the magnetic representation provided by PFSS and therefore the magnetic connectivity provided by the tool is likely to be highly inaccurate. PFSS also assumes that the magnetic field is radial at a pre-defined spherical ‘source surface’, while this is reasonable during solar minimum conditions, deviations from a spherical source surface are likely to develop during solar maximum periods (Riley et al. 2006). In contrast, Magneto-Hydrodynamic (MHD) simulations account for currents, do not assume a spherical source surface and are capable of capturing time-dependent phenomena. They are considered more accurate however they are much more demanding computationally and usually run at much lower resolution that PFSS and more seldomly. Future updates of the Magnetic Connectivity Tool will include such 3-D MHD simulations for specific dates.
Reference: Riley P., Linker J.~A., Mikic Z., Lionello R., Ledvina S.~A., Luhmann J.~G., 2006, ApJ, 653, 1510. doi:10.1086/508565