EUHFORIA modelling of the Sun-Earth chain of the magnetic cloud of 28 June 2013

¹ Department of Physics, University of Calabria, Ponte P. Bucci 31C, 87036 Rende, CS, Italy
e-mail: giuseppe.prete@unical.it
² National Institute for Astrophysics, Scientific Directorate, Viale del Parco Mellini 84, 00136 Roma, Italy
³ Centre for Mathematical Plasma Astrophysics, Dept. of Mathematics, KU Leuven, Celestijnenlaan 200B, 3001 Leuven, Belgium
⁴ Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence–SIDC, Royal Observatory of Belgium, 1180 Brussels, Belgium
⁵ LESIA, Observatoire de Paris, PSL Research University, CNRS Sorbonne Université, Univ. Paris 06, Univ. Paris Diderot, Sorbonne Paris Cité, 5 place Jules Janssen, 92195 Meudon, France
⁶ Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA
⁷ Institute of Physics, University of Maria Curie-Skłodowska, Pl. M. Curie-Skłodowska 5, 20-031 Lublin, Poland

Received: 15 May 2023
Accepted: 21 November 2023

Abstract

Context. Predicting geomagnetic events starts with an understanding of the Sun-Earth chain phenomena in which (interplanetary) coronal mass ejections (CMEs) play an important role in bringing about intense geomagnetic storms. It is not always straightforward to determine the solar source of an interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) detected at 1 au.

Aims. The aim of this study is to test by a magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation the chain of a series of CME events detected from L1 back to the Sun in order to determine the relationship between remote and in situ CMEs.

Methods. We analysed both remote-sensing observations and in situ measurements of a well-defined magnetic cloud (MC) detected at L1 occurring on 28 June 2013. The MHD modelling is provided by the 3D MHD European Heliospheric FORecasting Information Asset (EUHFORIA) simulation model.

Results. After computing the background solar wind, we tested the trajectories of six CMEs occurring in a time window of five days before a well-defined MC at L1 that may act as the candidate of the MC. We modelled each CME using the cone model. The test involving all the CMEs indicated that the main driver of the well-defined, long-duration MC was a slow CME. For the corresponding MC, we retrieved the arrival time and the observed proton density.

Conclusions. EUHFORIA confirms the results obtained in the George Mason data catalogue concerning this chain of events. However, their proposed solar source of the CME is disputable. The slow CME at the origin of the MC could have its solar source in a small, emerging region at the border of a filament channel at latitude and longitude equal to +14 degrees.