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Operational Outer Zone Energetic Charged Particle Model

Award Information
Agency: Department of Defense
Branch: Air Force
Contract: FA9453-18-P-0222
Agency Tracking Number: F17C-T03-0047
Amount: $149,983.00
Phase: Phase I
Program: STTR
Solicitation Topic Code: AF17-CT03
Solicitation Number: 2017.0
Timeline
Solicitation Year: 2017
Award Year: 2018
Award Start Date (Proposal Award Date): 2018-03-13
Award End Date (Contract End Date): 2019-03-13
Small Business Information
4459 White Bear Parkway
White Bear Lake, MN 55110
United States
DUNS: 156974024
HUBZone Owned: No
Woman Owned: Yes
Socially and Economically Disadvantaged: No
Principal Investigator
 Kevin Pham
 (304) 293-3422
 kevin.pham@mail.wvu.edu
Business Contact
 Greg Wagner
Phone: (651) 789-9000
Email: gwagner@arcnano.com
Research Institution
 West Virginia University
 John Childress
 
PO Box 6315
Morgantown, WV 26505
United States

 (304) 293-3998
 Nonprofit College or University
Abstract

Earths outer radiation belt, which consists of electrons with hundreds of keV to MeV energies, is a highly dynamic and driven environment.The large variations in electron flux, if unaccounted for, can cause satellites that travel through this complex region to experience anomalous behavior ranging from temporary satellite outages due to electrostatic discharge events in system electronics to potentially catastrophic damage of important satellite instruments, which lead to complete mission failure.The environment a given satellite encounters throughout its life effects on the probability and modes of failure it may encounter.Even with a large deployment of satellites, it is practically impossible to create an array of satellites that can effectively provide a 3D picture of the radiation belts and to fully capture the physics necessary to accurately estimate energetic electron flux.An assimilated model, that combines both spacecraft data and physical modeling, is necessary to fill this role.Although previous models may simulate GEO and HEO electron fluxes relatively well, they do not include any drift physics, which is particularly important for LEO satellites. Our proposed model which includes radial diffusion, pitch angle diffusion, and azimuthal drift, serves as a better general purpose operational radiation belt model.

* Information listed above is at the time of submission. *

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