Validating Very Long-term Simulations With The BAS Radiation Belt Model Using GIOVE-B Data

Friday, 9 March 2018: 15:30
Longshot and Bogey (Hotel Quinta da Marinha)
Sarah A Glauert1, Richard B. Horne2 and Nigel Peter Meredith2, (1)NERC British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom, (2)British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge, United Kingdom
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Abstract:
Understanding the electron radiation environment at medium earth orbit (MEO) is becoming increasingly important, particularly for global navigation satellites and for satellites using electric orbit raising to reach geostationary orbit (GEO). As part of the EU-FP7 SPACESTORM project, the BAS Radiation Belt Model (BAS-RBM) has been used to recreate the high-energy electron environment (E > ~500 keV) throughout the outer radiation belt for the last 30 years.

We present a new method of using the >2 MeV electron flux measured by the GOES spacecraft in GEO to derive the outer boundary condition for the model, by converting the integral flux to differential flux and correcting for the diurnal variation in the data. The 30-year long simulation reconstructs the radiation belt from L*=2 to geostationary orbit. The model reproduces both the long and short term variability of the outer radiation belt and slot region; solar cycle variations are clearly visible both at GEO and at lower L*.

The Standard Radiation Environment Monitor (SREM) on the Galileo In-Orbit Validation Element-B (GIOVE-B) spacecraft was used to validate the results. This enabled a completely independent validation for 2008-2012, from a spacecraft with an inclination of 56o and a range of L* from about L*=4.2 to outside GEO. A comparison between the simulation and the GIOVE-B data, including the calculation of skill scores, will be discussed

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