Comparison of Parker Solar Probe Observations during First Perihelion with Global Magnetohydrodynamic Model Results

NASA's Parker Solar Probe (PSP) spacecraft launched on August 12, 2018, and reached its first of 24 perihelia (P1) on November 5th, 2018. We developed a 3D wave-turbulence-driven (WTD) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) solution for the solar corona and inner heliosphere, driven by the then available observations of the Sun's photospheric magnetic field prior to this event, both as a test of our model's predictive capabilities as well as to aid in mission planning. We inferred that, in the days prior to first encounter, PSP was immersed in wind emanating from a well-established, positive-polarity northern polar coronal hole. During the encounter, however, field lines from the spacecraft mapped to a negative-polarity equatorial coronal hole, within which it remained for the entire encounter, before becoming magnetically connected to a positive-polarity equatorial coronal hole. In this presentation, we compare our MHD results with FIELDS, SWEAP, and WISPR observations made during P1, highlighting both agreements and disagreements. We use the model results to help interpret the PSP observations, and, in particular, provide a global context for them. From the model results, we can identify what types of solar wind PSP encountered, what the underlying magnetic structure was, and how complexities in the orbital trajectory can be interpreted within a global, inertial frame. Ultimately, the measurements returned by PSP can be used to constrain current theories for heating the solar corona and accelerating the solar wind, as well as improving the accuracy of the predictions.