Abstract
Abstract. Space weather aims at setting operational numerical tools in order to nowcast, forecast and quantify the solar activity events, the magnetosphere, ionosphere and thermosphere responses and the consequences on our technological societies. These tools can be divided in two parts. The first has a geophysical base (Sun, interplanetary medium, magnetosphere, atmosphere). The second concerns technological applications (telecommunications, spacecraft orbits, power plants ...). In this paper, we aim at giving an overview of the models that belong to the first class (geophysics) that might serve in the future as a basis for building global operational codes. For each model, we consider the physics underneath, the input and output parameters, and whether it is already operational, whether it may become operational in the near future, or if it is an academic research tool. Relevant references are given in order to serve as a starting point for further readings.Key words. Interplanetary physics (general or miscellaneous), Ionosphere (modelling and forecasting), Magnetospheric physics (general or miscellaneous)
Highlights
Reviewing the current state of scientific models available for space weather developments is an extremely ambitious task
It has already been mentioned that the ring current composition and dynamic particles is driven by the level of the magnetospheric activity
The two models presently used are the Abel and Thorne semi-empirical model (Abel and Thorne, 1998a, b) and the LPCE/CEA empirical model (Baussart et al, 2000; Lefeuvre et al, 2000) based mainly on statistics performed from 3 years of DE-1 data and on wave normal directions estimated from GEOS-1 and ISEE-1 data
Summary
Reviewing the current state of scientific models available for space weather developments is an extremely ambitious task. Both magnetospheric plasma and solar electromagnetic radiations interact with the Earth’s atmosphere, giving rise to the ionosphere and thermosphere This very short summary shows that the entire Solar-Terrestrial system can be described and understood in terms of a succession of subsystems that exchange material and energy: the Sun’s atmosphere, the interplanetary medium, the magnetosphere, and the ionosphere-thermosphere system. Developed space weather models based upon artificial techniques, such as neural networks genetic algorithms and expert systems, are not presented here, nor are the technological models which estimate the specified effects of our environment on a given “system”, for example, those dealing with radiation doses, spacecraft charging, proton fluences or atmospheric drag. The last section of the paper presents a model synthesis, by means of tables that outline their main characteristics, including their input and output parameters
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