We investigate supersonic, axisymmetric magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) jets with a
time-dependent injection velocity by numerical simulations with the PLUTO code.
Using a comprehensive set of parameters, we explore different jet
configurations in the attempt to construct models that can be directly compared
to observational data of microjets. In particular, we focus our attention on
the emitting properties of traveling knots and construct, at the same time,
accurate line intensity ratios and surface brightness maps. Direct comparison
of the resulting brightness and line intensity ratios distributions with
observational data of microjets shows that a closer match can be obtained only
when the jet material is pre-ionized to some degree. A very likely source for a
pre-ionized medium is photoionization by X-ray flux coming from the central
object.Comment: Accepted for publication in Ap
