Parker's spiral

This module is aimed at providing a quasi real-time numerical reconstruction of the actual state of the interplanetary Parker's spiral.

To this end, we developed a new approach called RIMAP — Reverse In-situ data and MHD Approach. The plasma parameters in the inner boundary at 0.1 AU are derived directly from the in-situ measurements acquired at 1 AU by ACE, by applying a back-reconstruction technique to remap them into the inner heliosphere. This is done by using the Weber and Davies solar wind theoretical model to reconstruct the wind flowlines.

The plasma is then re-propagated outward by running a MHD numerical simulation based on the PLUTO code. The simulation is carried out in 3D, but final results are representative only of the plasma conditions (speed, density, and magnetic field) on the ecliptic plane, because no information on these parameters are currently available out of this plane.