Numerical Validation and Comparison of Three Solar Wind Heating Methods by the SIP-CESE MHD Model

We conduct simulations using the three-dimensional (3D) solar-interplanetary conservation element/solution element (SIP-CESE) magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) model and magnetogram data from a Carrington rotation (CR) 1897 to compare the three commonly used heating methods, i.e. the Wentzel—Kramers—Brillouin (WKB) Alfvén wave heating method, the turbulence heating method and the volumetric heating method. Our results show that all three heating models can basically reproduce the bimodal structure of the solar wind observed near the solar minimum. The results also demonstrate that the major acceleration interval terminates about 4R_S for the turbulence heating method and 10R_S for both the WKB Alfvén wave heating method and the volumetric heating method. The turbulence heating and the volumetric heating methods can capture the observed changing trends by the WIND satellite, while the WKB Alfvén wave heating method does not.