Parallel MHD for large-scale plasma simulation

Global scale computer simulation of the interaction of the solar wind with Earth's magnetosphere is a grand challenge problem that requires extremely fast and powerful parallel computers. We will demonstrate the need for a multi-scale approach to modelling magnetospheric processes because of the vast range of space and time scales associated with large scale magnetospheric convection, boundary layer dynamics and fine scale auroral acceleration processes. We shall summarize our plan to develop a hierarchical set of numerical models that will be used to map auroral processes into various source regions in the distant magnetosphere. This is necessary to understand and predict polar magnetic storms. As an application, we summarize our experience with 3D magnetohydrodynamic simulation codes on distributed and shared memory parallel and parallel/vector computers such as the IBM SP2, SGI Origin 2000, and CRAY C90.