Hydrodynamic Approach to Modeling the Thermal Plasma Distribution around a Moving Charged Satellite

Abstract

The electric field distribution around a charged satellite in a rarefied magnetospheric plasma influences greatly the densities and trajectories of particles measured by onboard instruments. The simulation of macroparameters of thermal plasma near the moving charged satellite, which is necessary for correction of experimental measurements, encounters considerable computational difficulties. In this work, two three-dimensional models of the electric field distribution around the satellite are considered under the conditions when the Debye length is comparable to the geometrical size of the spacecraft. In the first model a system of hydrodynamic equations of continuity and motion was used, which was solved jointly with the Poisson equation. In the second model the hydrodynamic equation of motion was used for analyzing the motion of large particles by means of the method of particles in a cell. The numerical algorithms and the results of calculations of the potential near the satellite, as well as the distributions of densities of electrons and ions and of volume charge, are considered. The results of test calculations for some situations in the ambient plasma are presented, and the influence of the spatial electric field distribution on the thermal plasma measurements is considered.