Abstract
The Community Coordinated Modeling Center has been leading community‐wide space science and space weather model validation projects for many years. These efforts have been broadened and extended via the newly launched International Forum for Space Weather Modeling Capabilities Assessment (https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/assessment/). Its objective is to track space weather models' progress and performance over time, a capability that is critically needed in space weather operations and different user communities in general. The Space Radiation and Plasma Effects Working Team of the aforementioned International Forum works on one of the many focused evaluation topics and deals with five different subtopics (https://ccmc.gsfc.nasa.gov/assessment/topics/radiation-all.php) and varieties of particle populations: Surface Charging from tens of eV to 50‐keV electrons and internal charging due to energetic electrons from hundreds keV to several MeVs. Single‐event effects from solar energetic particles and galactic cosmic rays (several MeV to TeV), total dose due to accumulation of doses from electrons (>100 keV) and protons (>1 MeV) in a broad energy range, and radiation effects from solar energetic particles and galactic cosmic rays at aviation altitudes. A unique aspect of the Space Radiation and Plasma Effects focus area is that it bridges the space environments, engineering, and user communities. The intent of the paper is to provide an overview of the current status and to suggest a guide for how to best validate space environment models for operational/engineering use, which includes selection of essential space environment and effect quantities and appropriate metrics.
Highlights
Space assets are subject to an environment consisting of different particle populations that often evolve dynamically over time and space, and potentially bringing about deleterious effects on spacecraft electronics and/or life in space (e.g., Feynman & Gabriel, 2000)
To break the impasse and bridge the gaps and to make space environment models more useful to the engineering and user community, it is imperative to have standardized and more user‐focused physical parameters/metrics to measure their performance over time, the physical quantities that matter to engineers/users and that can be understood/translated in terms of impact assessment and monitoring
Space radiation environment consists of solar energetic particles (SEPs), galactic cosmic rays (GCRs), energetic particles trapped in the South Atlantic anomaly region, and energetic electrons in radiation belts
Summary
Space assets (including aircraft) are subject to an environment consisting of different particle populations that often evolve dynamically over time and space, and potentially bringing about deleterious effects on spacecraft electronics and/or life in space (e.g., Feynman & Gabriel, 2000). To break the impasse and bridge the gaps and to make space environment models (primarily developed by scientists) more useful to the engineering and user community, it is imperative to have standardized and more user‐focused physical parameters/metrics to measure their performance over time, the physical quantities that matter to engineers/users and that can be understood/translated in terms of impact assessment and monitoring. This serves as a key motivational force behind the International Forum for Space Weather Capabilities Assessment.
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