MODELING THE LARGE-SCALE STRUCTURE OF THE SOLAR CORONA

The aim of this study is to find a quantitative description of both the magnetic field and the distribution of plasma in the lower corona that matches the white light images of the K-corona. We use the magnetostatic model of Bogdan and Low (1986) and data obtained by the High Altitude Observatory Mark III K-Coronameter stationed at Mauna Loa, Hawaii. To start with, we take the simplest, solar minimum case when the corona is approximately longitudinally symmetric. By varying parameters in the Bogdan and Low model we are able to quantitatively match the general characteristics of the lower corona at solar minimum: power law radial profiles of coronal brightness; enhanced brightness at the equator; uniform density depletion at the pole. Further, we find the set of parameters that best fit the data and investigate how well the model parameters are resolved by the data.