Improved Boundary Conditions for Coupled Geospace Models: An Application in Modeling Spacecraft Surface Charging Environment
Abstract Spacecraft surface charging in the inner magnetosphere often occurs in the pre‐midnight to the dawn sector when electron fluxes of tens of keV increase. Inner magnetosphere ring current models can be used to simulate/predict the spacecraft surface charging environment, with their outer boun...
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Wiley
2022-09-01
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| Series: | Space Weather |
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| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022SW003178 |
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| _version_ | 1841536307006799872 |
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| author | Yiqun Yu Shengjun Su Jinbin Cao Vania K. Jordanova Michael H. Denton |
| author_facet | Yiqun Yu Shengjun Su Jinbin Cao Vania K. Jordanova Michael H. Denton |
| author_sort | Yiqun Yu |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Abstract Spacecraft surface charging in the inner magnetosphere often occurs in the pre‐midnight to the dawn sector when electron fluxes of tens of keV increase. Inner magnetosphere ring current models can be used to simulate/predict the spacecraft surface charging environment, with their outer boundary conditions specified either based on observations or provided by other models, such as MHD models. In the latter approach, using MHD quantities, the flux spectrum at the outer boundary is commonly assumed to follow a Kappa or Maxwellian distribution function. Such a method however often departs greatly from the realistic spectrum at E < tens of keV, a crucial energy range in the surface charging anomaly. In order to achieve a better representation of the surface charging environment, we propose to combine the MHD‐parameterized flux spectrum with an empirical electron flux model of E < 40 keV to set the electron flux boundary condition. Results indicate that as opposed to the case where the MHD‐parameterized flux distribution is solely used at the model boundary, simulations with the new boundary condition yields a more intense surface charging environment. The integrated electron flux between 10 < E < 50 keV, a measure of the severity of the surface charging environment, is significantly enhanced by 1‐2 orders of magnitude, leading to a much better agreement with Van Allen Probes measurements. This study hence demonstrates a reasonable solution to the setting of outer boundary conditions for inner magnetosphere models and is recommended for coupled geospace circulation models. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-163a09242428456ea3efdffc772ec374 |
| institution | Kabale University |
| issn | 1542-7390 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2022-09-01 |
| publisher | Wiley |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Space Weather |
| spelling | doaj-art-163a09242428456ea3efdffc772ec3742025-01-14T16:31:12ZengWileySpace Weather1542-73902022-09-01209n/an/a10.1029/2022SW003178Improved Boundary Conditions for Coupled Geospace Models: An Application in Modeling Spacecraft Surface Charging EnvironmentYiqun Yu0Shengjun Su1Jinbin Cao2Vania K. Jordanova3Michael H. Denton4School of Space and Environment Beihang University Beijing ChinaSchool of Space and Environment Beihang University Beijing ChinaSchool of Space and Environment Beihang University Beijing ChinaSpace Science and Applications Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos NM USACenter for Space Plasma Physics Space Science Institute Boulder CO USAAbstract Spacecraft surface charging in the inner magnetosphere often occurs in the pre‐midnight to the dawn sector when electron fluxes of tens of keV increase. Inner magnetosphere ring current models can be used to simulate/predict the spacecraft surface charging environment, with their outer boundary conditions specified either based on observations or provided by other models, such as MHD models. In the latter approach, using MHD quantities, the flux spectrum at the outer boundary is commonly assumed to follow a Kappa or Maxwellian distribution function. Such a method however often departs greatly from the realistic spectrum at E < tens of keV, a crucial energy range in the surface charging anomaly. In order to achieve a better representation of the surface charging environment, we propose to combine the MHD‐parameterized flux spectrum with an empirical electron flux model of E < 40 keV to set the electron flux boundary condition. Results indicate that as opposed to the case where the MHD‐parameterized flux distribution is solely used at the model boundary, simulations with the new boundary condition yields a more intense surface charging environment. The integrated electron flux between 10 < E < 50 keV, a measure of the severity of the surface charging environment, is significantly enhanced by 1‐2 orders of magnitude, leading to a much better agreement with Van Allen Probes measurements. This study hence demonstrates a reasonable solution to the setting of outer boundary conditions for inner magnetosphere models and is recommended for coupled geospace circulation models.https://doi.org/10.1029/2022SW003178spacecraft surface chargingsimulation predictionmodel settinggeospace circulation models |
| spellingShingle | Yiqun Yu Shengjun Su Jinbin Cao Vania K. Jordanova Michael H. Denton Improved Boundary Conditions for Coupled Geospace Models: An Application in Modeling Spacecraft Surface Charging Environment Space Weather spacecraft surface charging simulation prediction model setting geospace circulation models |
| title | Improved Boundary Conditions for Coupled Geospace Models: An Application in Modeling Spacecraft Surface Charging Environment |
| title_full | Improved Boundary Conditions for Coupled Geospace Models: An Application in Modeling Spacecraft Surface Charging Environment |
| title_fullStr | Improved Boundary Conditions for Coupled Geospace Models: An Application in Modeling Spacecraft Surface Charging Environment |
| title_full_unstemmed | Improved Boundary Conditions for Coupled Geospace Models: An Application in Modeling Spacecraft Surface Charging Environment |
| title_short | Improved Boundary Conditions for Coupled Geospace Models: An Application in Modeling Spacecraft Surface Charging Environment |
| title_sort | improved boundary conditions for coupled geospace models an application in modeling spacecraft surface charging environment |
| topic | spacecraft surface charging simulation prediction model setting geospace circulation models |
| url | https://doi.org/10.1029/2022SW003178 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT yiqunyu improvedboundaryconditionsforcoupledgeospacemodelsanapplicationinmodelingspacecraftsurfacechargingenvironment AT shengjunsu improvedboundaryconditionsforcoupledgeospacemodelsanapplicationinmodelingspacecraftsurfacechargingenvironment AT jinbincao improvedboundaryconditionsforcoupledgeospacemodelsanapplicationinmodelingspacecraftsurfacechargingenvironment AT vaniakjordanova improvedboundaryconditionsforcoupledgeospacemodelsanapplicationinmodelingspacecraftsurfacechargingenvironment AT michaelhdenton improvedboundaryconditionsforcoupledgeospacemodelsanapplicationinmodelingspacecraftsurfacechargingenvironment |