Impact of a novel hybrid accelerometer on satellite gravimetry performance

The state-of-the-art electrostatic accelerometers (EA) used for the retrieval of non-gravitational forces acting on a satellite constitute a core component of every dedicated gravity field mission. However, due to their difficult-to-control thermal drift in the low observation frequencies, they are also one of the most limiting factors of the achievable performance of gravity recovery. Recently, a hybrid accelerometer consisting of a regular EA and a novel cold atom interferometer (CAI) that features a time-invariant observation stability and constantly recalibrates the EA has been developed in order to remedy this major drawback. In this paper we aim to assess the value of the hybrid accelerometer for gravity field retrieval in the context of GRACE-type and Bender-type missions by means of numerical closed-loop simulations where possible noise specifications of the novel instrument are considered and different components of the Earth’s gravity field signal are added subsequently. It is shown that the quality of the gravity field solutions is mainly dependent on the CAI’s measurement accuracy. While a low CAI performance (10^?8 to 10^?9?m/s²/Hz^1/2) does not lead to any gains compared to a stand-alone EA, a sufficiently high one (10^?11?m/s²/Hz^1/2) may improve the retrieval performance by over one order of magnitude. We also show that improvements which are limited to low-frequency observations may even propagate into high spherical harmonic degrees. Further, the accelerometer performance seems to play a less prominent role if the overall observation geometry is improved as it is the case for a Bender-type mission. The impact of the accelerometer measurements diminishes further when temporal variations of the gravity field are introduced, pointing out the need for proper de-aliasing techniques. An additional study reveals that the hybrid accelerometer is – contrary to a stand-alone EA – widely unaffected by scale factor instabilities.     

Synthesis of CME-Associated Moreton and EIT Wave Features from MHD Simulations

Soft X-ray (SXR) waves, EIT waves, and Hα Moreton waves are all associated with coronal mass ejections (CMEs). The knowledge of the characteristics about these waves is crucial for the understanding of CMEs, and hence for the space weather researches. MHD numerical simulation is performed, with the consideration of the quiet Sun atmosphere, to investigate the CME/flare processes. On the basis of the numerical results, SXR, EUV, and Hα images of the eruption are synthesized, where SXR waves, EIT waves, and Hα Moreton waves are identified. It confirms that the EIT waves, which border the expanding dimmming region, are produced by the successive opening (or stretching) of the closed magnetic field lines. Hα Moreton waves are found to propagate outward synchronously with the SXR waves, lagging behind the latter spatially by ～27 Mm in the simulated scenario. However, the EIT wave velocity is only a third of the Moreton wave velocity. The synthesized results also suggest that Hα± 0.45Å would be the best off-band for the detection of Hα Moreton waves.     

Solar filament eruptions and their physical role in triggering coronal mass ejections

Solar filament eruptions play a crucial role in triggering coronal mass ejections (CMEs). More than 80% of eruptions lead to a CME. This correlation has been studied extensively during the past solar cycles and the last long solar minimum. The statistics made on events occurring during the rising phase of the new solar cycle 24 is in agreement with this finding. Both filaments and CMEs have been related to twisted magnetic fields. Therefore, nearly all the MHD CME models include a twisted flux tube, called a flux rope. Either the flux rope is present long before the eruption, or it is built up by reconnection of a sheared arcade from the beginning of the eruption.     

Why should the latitude of the observer be considered when modeling gradual proton events? An insight using the concept of cobpoint

The shape of flux profiles of gradual solar energetic particle (SEP) events depends on several not well-understood factors, such as the strength of the associated shock, the relative position of the observer in space with respect to the traveling shock, the existence of a background seed particle population, the interplanetary conditions for particle transport, as well as the particle energy. Here, we focus on two of these factors: the influence of the shock strength and the relative position of the observer. We performed a 3D simulation of the propagation of a coronal/interplanetary CME-driven shock in the framework of ideal MHD modeling. We analyze the passage of this shock by nine spacecraft located at ∼0.4 AU (Mercury’s orbit) and at different longitudes and latitudes. We study the evolution of the plasma conditions in the shock front region magnetically connected to each spacecraft, that is the region of the shock front scanned by the “cobpoint” (Heras et al., 1995), as the shock propagates away from the Sun. Particularly, we discuss the influence of the latitude of the observer on the injection rate of shock-accelerated particles and, hence, on the resulting proton flux profiles to be detected by each spacecraft.     

Rayleigh问题的Monte Carlo直接模拟

利用流场直接模拟的Ｍｏｎｔｅ Ｃａｒｌｏ方法数值模拟了Ｒａｙｌｅｉｇｈ问题的流场，获得了相应的结果，结果与解析解及经验解吻合较好，ＤＳＭＣ方法避免了求解复杂的控制方程，在流动比较复杂的情形下，有很大的优越性，是研究稀薄气体流动的一种好方法。     

MHD code using multi graphical processing units: SMAUG+

This paper introduces the Sheffield Magnetohydrodynamics Algorithm Using GPUs (SMAUG+), an advanced numerical code for solving magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) problems, using multi-GPU systems. Multi-GPU systems facilitate the development of accelerated codes and enable us to investigate larger model sizes and/or more detailed computational domain resolutions. This is a significant advancement over the parent single-GPU MHD code, SMAUG (Griffiths et al., 2015). Here, we demonstrate the validity of the SMAUG?+?code, describe the parallelisation techniques and investigate performance benchmarks. The initial configuration of the Orszag-Tang vortex simulations are distributed among 4, 16, 64 and 100?GPUs. Furthermore, different simulation box resolutions are applied: $1000\times 1000\text{,}2044\times 2044\text{,}4000\times 4000$ and $8000\times 8000$. We also tested the code with the Brio-Wu shock tube simulations with model size of 800 employing up to 10?GPUs. Based on the test results, we observed speed ups and slow downs, depending on the granularity and the communication overhead of certain parallel tasks. The main aim of the code development is to provide massively parallel code without the memory limitation of a single GPU. By using our code, the applied model size could be significantly increased. We demonstrate that we are able to successfully compute numerically valid and large 2D MHD problems.     

壁面展向匀速运动的槽道湍流的直接数值模拟

为了解展向存在匀速流动时湍流槽道流动的特性,应用直接数值模拟方法研究了壁面的展向运动对湍流槽道流动的影响.采用标准谱方法对固定质量流率条件下,上壁面展向运动速度分别等于零、流向流量平均速度以及两倍于流向流量平均速度等3种情况进行了直接数值模拟.结果表明,壁面的展向运动会导致表面摩擦力的增大,二阶湍流统计量诸如均方根速度脉动、雷诺剪切应力和均方根涡量脉动等都会随着壁面展向运动速度的增大而显著增长,同时,槽道截面上的均方根速度脉动也变得更均匀.      

Thermodynamical Properties of the ICM from Hydrodynamical Simulations

Modern hydrodynamical simulations offer nowadays a powerful means to trace the evolution of the X-ray properties of the intra-cluster medium (ICM) during the cosmological history of the hierarchical build up of galaxy clusters. In this paper we review the current status of these simulations and how their predictions fare in reproducing the most recent X-ray observations of clusters. After briefly discussing the shortcomings of the self-similar model, based on assuming that gravity only drives the evolution of the ICM, we discuss how the processes of gas cooling and non-gravitational heating are expected to bring model predictions into better agreement with observational data. We then present results from the hydrodynamical simulations, performed by different groups, and how they compare with observational data. As terms of comparison, we use X-ray scaling relations between mass, luminosity, temperature and pressure, as well as the profiles of temperature and entropy. The results of this comparison can be summarised as follows: (a) simulations, which include gas cooling, star formation and supernova feedback, are generally successful in reproducing the X-ray properties of the ICM outside the core regions; (b) simulations generally fail in reproducing the observed “cool core” structure, in that they have serious difficulties in regulating overcooling, thereby producing steep negative central temperature profiles. This discrepancy calls for the need of introducing other physical processes, such as energy feedback from active galactic nuclei, which should compensate the radiative losses of the gas with high density, low entropy and short cooling time, which is observed to reside in the innermost regions of galaxy clusters.     

基于表面粘结损伤的复合固体推进剂细观损伤数值模拟

为更准确地模拟固体推进剂的细观损伤,研究复合固体推进剂的非线性力学性能,采用分子动力学方法对高填充比复合固体推进剂细观模型进行建模,验证了Surface-based cohesive方法的可行性,并替代经典粘结单元模拟了复合固体推进剂细观颗粒与基体之间界面损伤的产生和聚合.通过对比固体推进剂细观模型的计算结果,研究了复合固体推进剂颗粒粒径、位置的随机分布对固体推进剂细观损伤及宏观力学性能的影响.结果表明,采用Surface-based cohesive方法对固体推进剂细观模型较易进行有限元前处理,易收敛,计算结果比较合理.