Investigation of an MSIS00 Density Modeling Discrepancy
Abstract
During the solar minimum of 2007-2009 an apparent discrepancy between densities predicted by the latest version of the MSIS atmospheric model, MSIS00, and observed data from the on-orbit satellites CHAMP and GRACE was reported by Thayer et al. This mismodeling of the atmospheric density could have a significant impact on satellite lifetimes. Validation of Thayer et al. s methods and results was performed to verify the existence of an MSIS00 modeling problem. Once Thayer et al. s findings were verified, a tool package called ADOBE was run on ten spheres at varying altitudes over different solar conditions to discover the extent of the MSIS00 modeling discrepancy. These two efforts showed that MSIS00 was over-predicting the atmospheric density in the thermosphere during deep solar minima and under-predicting the atmospheric density in the lower exosphere during solar maxima, suggesting that MSIS00 needs to be corrected to account for these mismodeling problems. Thayer et al. s technique to update the MSIS00 density predictions is validated for the deep solar minimum regime.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2015
- Accession Number
- ADA627238
Entities
People
- Chia-chun Chao
- James R. Wilson
- John P. Mcvey
- Richard L. Walterscheid
Organizations
- The Aerospace Corporation