Forecasting the in situ properties of coronal mass ejections (CMEs) from
remote images is expected to strongly enhance predictions of space weather, and
is of general interest for studying the interaction of CMEs with planetary
environments. We study the feasibility of using a single heliospheric imager
(HI) instrument, imaging the solar wind density from the Sun to 1 AU, for
connecting remote images to in situ observations of CMEs. We compare the
predictions of speed and arrival time for 22 CMEs (in 2008-2012) to the
corresponding interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) parameters at in situ
observatories (STEREO PLASTIC/IMPACT, Wind SWE/MFI). The list consists of
front- and backsided, slow and fast CMEs (up to $2700 \: km \: s^{-1}$). We
track the CMEs to $34.9 \pm 7.1$ degrees elongation from the Sun with J-maps
constructed using the SATPLOT tool, resulting in prediction lead times of
$-26.4 \pm 15.3$ hours. The geometrical models we use assume different CME
front shapes (Fixed-$\Phi$, Harmonic Mean, Self-Similar Expansion), and
constant CME speed and direction. We find no significant superiority in the
predictive capability of any of the three methods. The absolute difference
between predicted and observed ICME arrival times is $8.1 \pm 6.3$ hours ($rms$
value of 10.9h). Speeds are consistent to within $284 \pm 288 \: km \: s^{-1}$.
Empirical corrections to the predictions enhance their performance for the
arrival times to $6.1 \pm 5.0$ hours ($rms$ value of 7.9h), and for the speeds
to $53 \pm 50 \: km \: s^{-1}$. These results are important for Solar Orbiter
and a space weather mission positioned away from the Sun-Earth line.
