PTetra, a Tool to Simulate Low Orbit Satellite-Plasma Interaction

A model is presented to numerically simulate the time-dependent interaction of satellites with space plasma. The approach is based on a fully kinetic description of the plasma using particle in cell modeling for all plasma species with physical charges and masses. The model also relies on a discreti...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inIEEE transactions on plasma science Vol. 40; no. 2; pp. 217 - 229
Main Author Marchand, R.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published New York IEEE 01.02.2012
The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers, Inc. (IEEE)
Subjects
Boundaries
Computational modeling
Computer simulation
Discretization
Electric fields
Magnetic fields
Mathematical model
Mathematical models
Numerical models
Orbits
Plasma physics
Plasmas
Poisson equations
Satellite-plasma interaction
Satellites
Simulation
Space vehicles
Spacecraft
spacecraft charging
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Summary:A model is presented to numerically simulate the time-dependent interaction of satellites with space plasma. The approach is based on a fully kinetic description of the plasma using particle in cell modeling for all plasma species with physical charges and masses. The model also relies on a discretization of space with an unstructured tetrahedral mesh that is capable of representing complex boundaries and realistic spacecraft geometries. The code solves for the self-consistent electric fields, given calculated volume charges and charge deposition on the various satellite components. The model is purely electrostatic, but it does account for the effects of a possible constant and uniform background magnetic field.
Bibliography:ObjectType-Article-2
SourceType-Scholarly Journals-1
ObjectType-Feature-1
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ISSN:0093-3813
1939-9375
DOI:10.1109/TPS.2011.2172638