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Calculation of Last Closed Drift Shells for the 2013 GEM Radiation Belt Challenge Events
Author(s) -
Albert J. M.,
Selesnick R. S.,
Morley S. K.,
Henderson M. G.,
Kellerman A. C
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1029/2018ja025991
Subject(s) - van allen radiation belt , radiation , physics , diffusion , code (set theory) , shell (structure) , boundary (topology) , computational physics , aerospace engineering , magnetic field , computer science , nuclear physics , engineering , mechanical engineering , mathematics , magnetosphere , mathematical analysis , set (abstract data type) , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics , programming language
Radiation belt behavior is often analyzed in terms of adiabatic invariants, of which the third roughly characterizes the radial distance of particle drift shells. The outermost, or last closed drift shell, can be an important boundary for numerical modeling, especially for drift‐averaged treatments such as three‐dimensional diffusion codes. Here we discuss calculation of the last closed drift shell, using the widely used International Radiation Belt Environment Modeling (IRBEM) Library, the LanlGeoMag code, and a guiding center code named AFRL‐Shell, in conjunction with a variety of current magnetic field models. We present results for the four events in 2013, comprising the radiation belt challenge organized by the Quantitative Assessment of Radiation Belt Modeling focus group of the Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM) program.