Comparison of Solar Energetic Particle Flux Mapping Models

Abstract:

Previous work using the Tsyganenko-Sitnov 2005 (TS05) magnetic field model combined with
the Dartmouth-CISM (DC) cutoff code to map GOES-7 SEM observations to CRRES locations
has demonstrated that, for reasonably static magnetospheric conditions, solar energetic particle
observations at GOES-7 can be mapped relatively accurately to locations inside of geosynchronous
where L > 4.5. Also a good correlation with observations continues to approximately L = 3.5. A
previous comparison of the TS05-DC combination with two other cutoff models found it to be the
most accurate of the set when compared to SAMPEX observations in a LEO orbit. However, the
TS05-DC combination requires significant computational resources compared to other models so
it is important to quantify the difference in accuracy for operational purposes. In this study we
characterize the Smart and Shea (SS) cutoff code and the Selesnick-Neal-Ogliore (SNO) model and
compare them to the TS05-DC cutoff model.