月球尾迹的二维MHD模拟

采用理想的二维单流体MHD方程,对太阳风通过月球时所形成的尾迹结构进行数值模拟,得到了太阳风尾迹的粒子分布及磁场分布.模拟结果表明,在月球背阳面的本影区,太阳风粒子密度急剧下降,行星际磁场增强.当行星际磁场与太阳风流动方向平行时,尾迹被拖得很长,而磁场与太阳风流动方向垂直时,尾迹较短.      

基于BP神经网络的GEO等离子体环境参数反演分析

空间等离子体环境诱发的表面充电效应会对航天器运行产生干扰，严重时将导致太阳电池等部件失效。通过神经网络反演方法，以GEO环境中介质表面充电电位曲线作为输入，在双峰麦克斯韦分布假设下，可以逆向得到高能峰的等离子体参数。分析了GEO等离子体环境参数对表面充电电位曲线的影响，表明高能峰在充电过程中起决定性作用；其次通过MATLAB搭建BP神经网络，采用COMSOL计算得到多组充电曲线进行网络训练和反演计算，得到等离子体密度反演的平均相对误差为0.42%，温度反演的平均相对误差为0.03%，整体误差在0.1%～5.6%。结果表明，采用神经网络对等离子体环境进行反演具有可行性，该方法可以作为空间等离子体环境探测结果的对比参考和航天器非探测点表面电位计算的输入条件。     

低轨道航天器的表面充电模拟

为研究航天器表面材料在空间环境中的充电现象, 利用SPIS (Spacecraft Plasma Interaction System)模拟了航天器在低轨道等离子体环境中的表面充电情况, 通过对模拟结果进行分析并与实际观测进行比较, 可以看出模拟结果基本能够反映出不同性质材料之间的充电差别, 特别是导电材料与非导电材料之间的充电差别. 模拟得到的充电电位及充电时间与充电的一般理论计算结果符合较好, 且能够清晰反映出航天器运动中产生的冲击流及尾流的结构特征. 根据SPIS低轨道航天器表面充电模拟的特点, 认为SPIS的模拟结果是合理的.      

尾迹和地磁效应对航天器表面充电影响的研究

研究迷效应和地磁场效应对中低轨道航天器表充电的影响,根据航天器表充电机制,采用薄鞘模型,根据电流收庥和轨道反演方法进行了数值模拟,给出航天器表面为导体和非导体的平衡电位,并进行了分析研究,数据结果观测和理论分析相符。     

电子环束流对航天器表面电位和等离子体鞘层的影响

采用二维三分量静电粒子模拟程序研究了电子环束流对低轨道磁化等离子体中运行的航天器表面电位和等离子体鞘层结构的影响.当有电子束流平行磁场入射时,航天器表面所带负电位的绝对值将增大.电子束流的速度和密度的增加将使航天器表面负电位绝对值增加很快.与此同时等离子体鞘层的尺度也将增大,形状将由向尾部延伸的“泪滴”状变成向两侧展开的“机翼”状.当电子环束流以相对于磁场成一定角度斜入射时,由于磁场的约束作用,航天器表面负电位的绝对值将随入射角增大而减小.      

材料次级电子发射特性对表面充电影响的数值计算研究

表面充电是最早被人们发现的空间环境效应, 是由空间环境引起的航天器异常和故障的主要诱因之一. 采用较精确的金属二次电子发射公式和局部电流平衡模型, 在无光照的情况下, 对不同表面材料及不同几何形体的航天器表面充电电位进行计算, 并绘制了表面材料的充电电位与最大二次电子发射系数之间的关系曲线. 根据数值计算结果及次级电子发射系数和曲线图得知, 航天器阴面充电电位与表面材料的原子序数、最大二次电子发射系数和入射离子引起的次级发射系数均有关. 该计算对航天器表面材料的选取和设计工艺有一定的参考价值.      

低轨道航天器高电压太阳电池阵电流泄漏效应分析计算

在一种简化的太阳电池阵结构模型基础上, 利用太阳电池阵电流收集经验模式,基于电流平衡, 建立了一种计算低轨道航天器高电压太阳电池阵在等离子体环境中电流泄漏的方法. 利用该方法, 对高电压太阳电池阵电流泄漏效应与低轨道等离子体环境、电池阵电压、电池阵裸露金属面积的关系进行了分析计算.结果表明, 随着轨道高度增加, 电流泄漏引起的电池阵功率损失迅速下降, 影响最严重的区域为电离层等离子体密度最高的300～400 km高度的轨道区域; 电流泄漏引起的功率损失与太阳电池阵电压呈指数关系, 电压越高功率损失越大; 200 V以下的电池阵功率损耗较小, 远低于电源系统总功率的1%;电流泄漏与太阳电池阵裸露金属导体的表面积呈正比关系, 因此, 通过减少太阳电池阵裸露面积, 可以降低电流泄漏的影响.      

膨胀磁场和太阳风粒子相互作用三维数值模拟

采用三维模型,使用混合网格质点法HPIC(Hybrid Particle-in-Cell)对膨胀的磁场和太阳风相互作用过程进行数值模拟.研究了线圈产生的偶极子磁场在注入等离子体后和太阳风粒子的相互作用过程,并对以不同速度入射的等离子体引起的太阳风粒子的变化和磁场变化进行了比较.研究结果表明,偶极子磁场和太阳风作用时会产生弓形激波,此时磁压等于太阳风粒子的动压,当向线圈产生的偶极子磁场中注入高能等离子体时引起磁场膨胀,膨胀的磁场将会排斥太阳风粒子向外运动,从而引起弓形激波的变化,增大与太阳风相互作用的面积,并且粒子入射速度越大,磁场膨胀越明显,与太阳风相互作用愈强.      

采用局部电流平衡模型计算同步轨道航天飞行器上界负电位

本文采用局部电流平衡模型,在无光照条件下,对不同表面材料、不同几何形体的航天器充电情况进行了计算.计算得到的最大负电位代表在同步轨道上飞行的航天器充电时可能达到的最坏情况.计算还得到某些航天材料可能出现多重带电的现象.      

航天器表面充电模型研究Ⅰ—空间电环境模型研究

航天器表面充电研究表明充电状态与空间电环境和航天器自身情况有着极为密切的关系。空间电环境是导致航天器表面充电的直接客观原因,它受太阳活动和地磁活动的强烈影响。研究空间电环境状态是认识航天器表面充电原因的基础。本文对已提出的许多空间电环境模型作了较为全面的综述和讨论     

Particle-in-cell simulation of the plasma environment of a spacecraft in the solar wind

The main interactions between the plasma and the spacecraft are the wake effects, the emission of a dense photoelectron cloud and the electric charging of the surface of the spacecraft. An electrostatic particle-in-cell computer simulation model is presented, that allows the simultaneous calculation of these related effects. For different plasma properties, two-dimensional simulations yielded the steady state self-consistent potential distributions around the probe. These potentials, especially the potential barriers produced by the photoelectron cloud, have great influence on the measurements of the low energy solar wind electrons. The essential features can be verified by a comparison with selected electron distributions measured onboard the HELIOS spacecraft.     

Bow shock: Power aspects

It is clear that the primary energy source for magnetospheric processes is the solar wind, but the process of energy transfer from the solar wind into the magnetosphere, or rather, to convecting magnetospheric plasma, appears to be rather complicated. Bow shock is a powerful transformer of the solar wind kinetic energy into the gas dynamic and electromagnetic energy. A jump of the magnetic field tangential component at front crossing means that the front carries an electric current. The solar wind kinetic energy partly transforms to gas kinetic and electromagnetic energy during its passage through the bow shock front. The transition layer (magnetosheath) can use part of this energy for accelerating of plasma, but can conversely spend part its kinetic energy on the electric power generation, which afterwards may be used by the magnetosphere. Thereby, transition layer can be both consumer (sink) and generator (source) of electric power depending upon special conditions. The direction of the current behind the bow shock front depends on the sign of the IMF Bz-component. It is this electric current which sets convection of plasma in motion.     

等离子体鞘层效应对磁层探测电场仪设计的影响

在空间环境探测中，卫星与等离子体的相互作用会改变背景环境的粒子和电位的分布，从而影响探测器对空间电场的测量.为了给磁层卫星电场探测仪器的研制和设计提供参考，本文以中国未来的磁层电离层探测为背景，针对不同轨道高度的等离子体环境，利用SPIS（Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Software）模拟了卫星平台和探针与等离子体的相互作用，从而得到了不同环境下卫星周围等离子体鞘层的厚度，以及探针电位与电流的对应关系.模拟结果表明:由于光电子和二次电子的影响，卫星鞘层的厚度小于等离子体的德拜半径，且温度越高其偏差越大；模拟得到的探针表面电流与电位的关系表明，施加偏置电流的探针可明显提高对电流扰动的抗干扰能力.此外，估计了不同轨道高度上探针处于最佳工作点时应施加偏置电流的大小.      

Plasma measurements in the Venus near wake

A study of the plasma measurements conducted with the Mariner 5, Venera 9 and 10, and the Pioneer Venus spacecraft in the Venus ionosheath and near wake is presented. The data available indicate that in the inner ionosheath, downstream from the terminator, the density and the velocity of the plasma are significantly smaller than those measured further outside. The slower particle fluxes detected near the ionopause also exhibit higher plasma temperatures and show a tendency to move towards the nightside hemisphere. The observation of high plasma temperatures in the inner ionosheath indicates that the interaction of the solar wind with the Venus ionospheric/exospheric material is dominated by dissipative phenomena, and that its entry into the wake is due to local thermal expansion processes.     

Cosmic rays in the dynamic heliosheath

Cosmic ray modulation in the outer heliosphere is discussed from a modeling perspective. Emphasis is on the transport and acceleration of these particles at and beyond the solar wind termination shock in the inner heliosheath region and how this changes over a solar cycle. We will show that by using numerical models, and by comparing results to spacecraft observations, much can be learned about the dependence of cosmic ray modulation on solar cycle changes in the solar wind and heliospheric magnetic field. While the first determines the heliospheric geometry and shock structure, the latter results in a time-dependence of the transport coefficients. Depending on energy, both these effects contribute to cosmic ray intensities in the inner heliosheath changing over a solar cycle.     

Impact induced plasma during a cometary fly-by

GIOTTO, the probe which is presently developed by the European Space Agency, will encounter comet Halley in March 1986 with a relative velocity of 69 km/s. The fore section of the surface will be submitted to the bombardment of dust grains and neutral molecules in the final phase of the mission, like that of an Earth orbiter during atmospheric re-entry. These particles have a kinetic energy of 24 eV per a.m.u.; they produce secondary ions and electrons which form a plasma cloud around the body and control the electric potential of its surface. This paper is a review of the work which has been performed on the subject by dedicated study groups; the purpose of their action was to gather information and produce new findings which might have an influence on the design of the spacecraft and help in the interpretation of the data collected by the scientific payload.

The effect of impact induced plasma may already be significant at 10⁵ km from the comet nucleus; at a distance of 1000 km the flux of ions and electrons produced by cometary dust and neutrals will possibly exceed that of the ambient plasma by more than three orders of magnitude. It is expected that the spacecraft surface potential will be positive and will reach at least a few tens of volts; coating the leading surface of the spacecraft with a thin layer of gold or silver will help reducing the emission of ions from neutral gas. Computer simulation models are used to predict the structure of the charged particle density distribution in the vicinity of the surface. Effects associated with the wake and differential charging are also discussed. The significance of these results is conditioned by the validity of the models and the largest source of uncertainty seems to be associated with the plasma generated by dust impact.     

Ionospheric losses of Venus in the solar wind

The nature of ionospheric losses from Venus is of essential importance for understanding the ionosphere dynamics of this unmagnetized planet. A plausible mechanism that can explain the escape of charged particles involves the solar wind interaction with the upper atmospheric layers of Venus. The hydrodynamic approach proposed for plasma expansion in the present study comprises two populations of positive ions and the neutralizing electrons, which interact with the solar wind electrons and protons. The fluid equations describing the plasma are solved numerically using a self-similar approach. The behavior of plasma density, velocity, and electric potential, as well as their reliance upon solar wind parameters have been examined. It is found that for noon midnight sites, the oxygen ion-to-electron relative density may be the main factor to enhance the ionic loss. However, the other parameters, like hydrogen density and solar wind density and velocity seem to do not stimulate the runaway ions. For lower dawn-dusk region, the plasma are composed of hydrogen and oxygen ions as well as electrons, but for higher altitudes only hydrogen ions and electrons are encountered. All ionic densities play an important role either to reduce or boost the ionic loss. The streaming solar wind velocity has no effect on the plasma escaping for lower altitudes, but it reduces the expansion at higher altitudes.     

二维太阳风速度结构与日球电流片

本文分析了第1733—1742Carrington周的太阳耀斑、行星际闪烁(IPS)、太阳风及K-日冕资料,对二维太阳风速度结构进行了综合研究。结果表明:速度的大尺度分布、高速区、速度梯度、经度不均匀性和边界形状等方面相对于太阳赤道面都是不对称的;通过对理想的和实际的电流片以及飞船测量的磁场和速度比较,可以看到电流片附近大体上为低速区,但不存在简单的对应关系;扰动太阳风对背景太阳风的二维速度结构有显著的影响;理想电流片与实际电流片之间也存在较大的差距。      

Magnetosphere response to the 2005 and 2006 extreme solar events as observed by the Cluster and Double Star spacecraft

The four identical Cluster spacecraft, launched in 2000, orbit the Earth in a tetrahedral configuration and on a highly eccentric polar orbit (4–19.6 R_E). This allows the crossing of critical layers that develop as a result of the interaction between the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere. Since 2004 the Chinese Double Star TC-1 and TC-2 spacecraft, whose payload comprise also backup models of instruments developed by European scientists for Cluster, provided two additional points of measurement, on a larger scale: the Cluster and Double Star orbits are such that the spacecraft are almost in the same meridian, allowing conjugate studies. The Cluster and Double Star observations during the 2005 and 2006 extreme solar events are presented, showing uncommon plasma parameters values in the near-Earth solar wind and in the magnetosheath. These include solar wind velocities up to ∼900 km s⁻¹ during an ICME shock arrival, accompanied by a sudden increase in the density by a factor of ∼5 and followed by an enrichment in He⁺⁺ in the secondary front of the ICME. In the magnetosheath ion density values as high as 130 cm⁻³ were observed, and the plasma flow velocity there reached values even higher than the typical solar wind velocity. These resulted in unusual dayside magnetosphere compression, detection of penetrating high-energy particles in the magnetotail, and ring current development following several successive injections of energetic particles in the inner magnetosphere, which “washed out” the previously formed nose-like ion structures.     

A polytropic model for the solar wind

The solar wind fills the heliosphere and is the background medium in which coronal mass ejections propagate. A realistic modelling of the solar wind is therefore essential for space weather research and for reliable predictions. Although the solar wind is highly anisotropic, magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) models are able to reproduce the global, average solar wind characteristics rather well. The modern computer power makes it possible to perform full three dimensional (3D) simulations in domains extending beyond the Earth’s orbit, to include observationally driven boundary conditions, and to implement even more realistic physics in the equations. In general, MHD models for the solar wind often make use of additional source and sink terms in order to mimic the observed solar wind parameters and/or they hide the not-explicitly modelled physical processes in a reduced or variable adiabatic index. Even the models that try to take as much as possible physics into account, still need additional source terms and fine tuning of the parameters in order to produce realistic results. In this paper we present a new and simple polytropic model for the solar wind, incorporating data from the ACE spacecraft to set the model parameters. This approach allows to reproduce the different types of solar wind, where the simulated plasma variables are in good correspondence with the observed solar wind plasma near 1 AU.