A Comparative Study of Solar Active Region 12371 with Data-constrained and Data-driven Magnetohydrodynamic Simulations

Abstract

We performed two data-based magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulations for solar active region 12371, which produced an M6.5 flare. The first simulation is a full data-driven simulation where the initial condition is given by a nonlinear force-free field (NLFFF). This NLFFF was extrapolated from photospheric magnetograms approximately 1 hr prior to the flare, and then a time-varying photospheric magnetic field is imposed at the bottom surface. The second simulation is also a data-driven simulation, but it stops driving at the bottom before the time of flare onset and then switches to the data-constrained simulation, where the horizontal component of the magnetic field varies according to an induction equation, while the normal component is fixed with time. Both simulations lead to an eruption, with both simulations producing highly twisted field lines before the eruption, which were not found in the NLFFF alone. After the eruption, the first simulation based on the time-varying photospheric magnetic field continues to produce sheared field lines after the flare without reproducing phenomena such as postflare loops. The second simulation reproduces the phenomena associated with flares well. However, in this case, the evolution of the bottom magnetic field is inconsistent with the evolution of the observed magnetic field. In this Letter, we report potential advantages and disadvantages in data-constrained and data-driven MHD simulations that need to be taken into consideration in future studies.

Keywords

• Solar flares
• Magnetohydrodynamics
• Solar active region magnetic fields
• Magnetohydrodynamical simulations