This page hosts the client/server porting of the magnetospheric/exospheric model by Mura et al [2005]. The model simulates ions and neutrals of various species and from different sources. Please insert the simulation parameter below, then press the [RUN] button at the bottom of the page. You will receive an E-mail with the simulation results. The simulation will take few minutes or several hours, depending on the simulation complexity.

Acknowledgments:
These activities have been partly funded by the Sun Planet Interactions Digital Environment on Request (SPIDER) Virtual Activity of the Europlanet 2024 Research Infrastucture funded by the European Union Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No 871149.

Some useful templates:

Go to the full model, with all options

Mercury
Sodium exosphere released by photon and thermal desorption
Sodium and Oxygen sputtering from Solar wind
Ion sputtering detected by ELENA instrument
Proton backscattering detected by ELENA instrument

Exoplanets
CoRoT7b planet, sodium exosphere, with exobase temperature = 2500 K, exobase height = 200 km
CoRoT7b -like planet, sodium exosphere, with exobase temperature = 10000 K, exobase height = 1 planetary radius

Other
Generic body, Ion sputtering detected by ELENA instrument
Europa, Ion sputtering from Jovian plasma

Your E-mail address, where you'll receive the output:

Enter a description for the simulation:


Simulation technical parameters
R max: maximum distance from planet center allowed for particles (in planetary radii);
Ion simulation: 1 if you want to simulate ions, 0 otherwise;
Neutral simulation: 1 if you want to simulate neutrals, 0 otherwise;
Particles to simulate: number of test-particles in the simulations;
Coriolis force: yes/no (1/0);

R max (for ions):
Ion simulation (0/1):
R max (for neutrals) :
Neutral simulation (0/1):
Particles to simulate:
Coriolis force:

Geometrical parameters
Planetary radius (m):
Planetary mass (kg):
Haphelion (AU, from the main body it is orbiting around):
Perihelion (AU, from the main body it is orbiting around):
Mass of Sun, star or planet (if it is a satellite) (kg):
Radius of Sun, star or planet (if it is a satellite) (m):
Planet true anomaly angle (in deg):
Photon flux of the star @ 1AU :
Mean distance from star :

Thermal parameters.
The model calculates the temperature on the surface (or the exobase) using the function:

dayside: T=Tn+(Td-Tn)*cos(a)1/4; nightside: T=Tn

Where T is the temperature, Td is the maximum temperature and Tn is the minimum temperature, a is the angle from the subsolar point.
Dayside max. Temp. @ perihelion (K): @ aphelion (K):
Nightside min. Temp. @ perihelion (K): @ aphelion (K):


Magnetic field parameters
Corrective parameter : radius between Earth and planet magnetospheres size, expressed in the rispective planetary radii. For Mercury, as an example, this value is usually between 6 and 7, as in Siscoe [1975];
Bx, By, Bz : upstream Interplanetary magnetic field, in nTesla;
Model number : two models are available: Tsyganenko [1996] (1) and Luhman-Fresnel [1979] (2);
Dipole moment (T m3):
Harris sheet magnetic field (T):
Harris sheet thickness (m):
Dipole shift (m):
KP index:
S/W velocity (km/s):
S/W density (cm-3):
DST index:
Corrective parameter:
Model number (see above):
Bx (nT):
By (nT):
Bz (nT):

Electric field paramenter
The electric field is calculated by assuming that the surface of the planet has an electric potential similar to that of Volland [1978]. The electric potential in any other point of the space is calculated by assuming that any magnetic field line is equi-potential. However, since this evalutation could be very slow, the calculated electric potential is stored in a 3D grid of size [nx, ny, nz]. The boudaries of this grid are X1-X2, Y1-Y2, Z1-Z2, in planetary radii. The potential in any point of the space is hence calculated by linear interpolation between nearest grid vertexes values.
It is possible to chance the strenght of the electric field by changing the cross-tail potential drop (in Volts, logaritmic scale).
The last parameters is needed if the Magnetic field model is not symmetric with respect to the y axis. In this case the polar caps do not fit with the Volland field shape. It is hence possible to re-calculate the potential inside polar caps with a Gauss-Seidel iterative method (uses Laplace equation). In most cases, use parameter=1.

Grid size and density
X1 / X2 (Rm): , nx:
Y1 / Y2 (Rm): , ny:
Z1 / Z2 (Rm): , nz:
Physical parameters
Potential drop (V) :
Model number (1: Pure Volland 2: Gauss-Seidel) :

Sources
This matrix is needed to specify which physical sources are included in the model. It is possible to include an unlimited number of sources/species at the same time. Add a line for each source process (at least one line). The first value is the code of the source process, according to the following list:

Solar wind at the magnetopause (SW, code 1);
Photo-stimulated desorption, energy distribution as in Wurz and Lammer (2003) (PSD, code 2);
Photo-stimulated desorption, energy distribution using a maxwellian (PSD, code 12);
Thermal desorption (TD, code 3);
Thermal release from the exobase (TE, code 13);
Micro-meteoritic sputtering (MSP, code 6);
Plasma distribution, isotropic (UPP, code 21);
Plasma distribution, collimated (PPP, code 22);

After the code of the source process, add some parameters following this table:

1 (Solar Wind) unused upstrem density (cm-3) upstream velocity (km/s) upstream temperature(K)unusedunused
2 (Photon desorption) Atomic Number beta parameter distribution temperature (K) cross section (m-2)parameter(*)parameter(**)
12 (Photon desorption) Atomic Number unused Temperaturecross section (m-2)unusedunused
3 (Thermal Desorption) Atomic Number binding energy (eV) vibration frequency (s-1) unusedunusedunused
13 (from exobase) Atomic Number binding energy (eV) vibration frequency (s-1) unusedunusedunused
6 (micrometeroids) Atomic Number Temperature(K) Mean mass flux (g*cm-2s-1)unused unusedunused
21 (isotropic plasma) Atomic NumberCharge (e)Mean energy (eV)energy widht (eV) flux (cm-2s-1)unused
22 (collimated plasma) Atomic NumberCharge (e)Mean energy (eV)energy widht (eV) flux (cm-2s-1)unused

* this parameter (n) controls the dependance of the flux vs solar-zenith angle (angle from subsolar point). The function is usually cos(angle)n, where n=1.
** this parameter (n) controls the dependance of the flux vs direction angle (angle from the vertical). The function is usually cos(angle)n, where n=2.

Sputtering (4, 5) are simulations of the effects of H+ sputtering without simulating H+ trejectories themselves (faster simulation). In the case (4 HSP) the flux of H+ over the planetary surface has been simulated in an average case (see Mura et al, [2005]), and then stored. In this way, there is no need to simulate H+ to obtain sputtering. The case (5 HSP) the H+ flux over the dayside surface is calculated as F=Fup*cos(a)
where Fup is the unperturbed, upstream S/W flux and a is the angle from the subsolar point.

Examples:

Processes
You can add one or more loss process here. Some of these loss processes also produce a secondary particle (for example, photo-ionization of neutrals produce ions). Add a line for each loss process (at least one line). The first value is the code of the loss process, according to the following list:

Surface ion-sputtering (SP, code 1), i.e. the extraction of a neutral from the surface by any impacting ion;
Photon-ionization (PI, code 2) of a neutral, producing an ion in the simulation;
Photon-ionization (PI, code 12) of a neutral. The resulting ion is not simulated;
Secondary photon-ionization (PI, code 22) of an ion, producing an ion++ in the simulation;
Secondary Photon-ionization (PI, code 32) of an ion. The resulting ion++ is not simulated;
Charge-Exchange (CE, code 3) between ion and exopsheric neutrals (see section 4).

The use of this matrix is similar to the previous one. Add as many lines as you want.
1 (Sputtering) Atomic number binding energy (eV) yield cosine exponent
2 (PhotoIon.) Atomic number unused lifetime (s) unused
12 (PhotoIon.) Atomic number unused lifetime (s) unused
22 (PhotoIon.) Atomic number unused lifetime (s) unused
32 (PhotoIon.) Atomic number unused lifetime (s) unused
3 (Charge-Ex.) Atomic number unused unused unused
5 (Chemic. Sput.) Atomic number yield temperature (K) unused
6 (Atm. scattering) Atomic number unused unused unused
25 (Surface scattering) Atomic number yield cosine exponent unused

Examples:

Surface composition and radiation pressure table
Please insert a table of the needed atomic species using this template:
Atomic Number (Z) Surface composition (%) Radiation Pressure (cm s-2)
Radiation pressure should negative, in cm s-2; a value =1 indicates that you want the model to calculate the radiation pressurre. Radiation pressure may be calculated by the model for Sodium, Hydrogen or Potassium only. In this case, the radiation pressure is calculated at every time-step, taking into account the doppler effect. Please insert a line for each specied included in the simulation. Please check/modify the parameters...

Surface composition map
Please insert a table of the surface relative composition (1=no change). This is for all species described above and describes the spatial variation respect to the average value. Use a uniformly-spaced grid (lines=latitudes, colums=longitudes) from -90 to 90

Atmospheric additional model (optional parameters ). If you ant to simulate charge-exchange or atmospheric sputtering/scattering, you need to include an independent atmospheric model. In all other cases, you don't need it. Please use the following template: first column; Atomic number, then polynomial coefficient in increasing order:

log10(d)= (a0+a1*x+a2*x2...)

where d is the density (in m-3), and x is log10 of the height (in km). The following table is just an example for Mercury; polynomial coefficient have been taken from a fit of Wurz and Lammer [2003] paper results.

Output: Spherical accumulation grid:
Please specify the 6 boundary values of the grid:
R1 and R2: minimum and maximum radius, in planetary radii;
Lat1 and Lat2: minimum and maximum latitude, in degrees;
Lon1 and Lon2: minimum and maximum longitude, in degrees;
as well as the grid size, in bins (n-R, n-Lat, n-Lon)
Radius. R1 / R2 (rm): , n-:
Latitude. Lat 1 / Lat 2 (deg): , n-:
Longitude. Lon 1 / Lon 2 (deg): , n-:

The number of the other dimensions of the accumulation grid are free, and the accumulation matrix will be "sparse" in these dimensions. You can specify a free number of energy channels, atomic number (Z) channels, charge channels, and pitch-angle (P.A.) channels. Please use the following template to fill the matrix, and add as many lines as yu like:
Min. Energy Max. Energy Min. Z Max. Z Min. charge Max. charge Min. P.A. Max. P.A. Energy channels Z channels Charge channels PA channels Flag (1=on)
.......................................
.......................................

Where energies are in "eV", atomic numbers in "Z", charges in "e", pitch angles are in "deg". Some templates have been included below:
Examples:

Output: Cubic accumulation grid: similar to the spherical one.
X1 / X2 (Rm): , n-x:
Y1 / Y2 (Rm): , n-y:
Z1 / Z2 (Rm): , n-z:

The number of the other dimensions of the accumulation grid are free, and the accumulation matrix will be "sparse" in these dimensions. You can specify a free number of energy channels, atomic number (Z) channels, charge channels, and pitch-angle (P.A.) channels. Please use the following template to fill the matrix, and add as many lines as yu like:
Min. Energy Max. Energy Min. Z Max. Z Min. charge Max. charge Min. P.A. Max. P.A. Energy channels Z channels Charge channels PA channels Flag (1=on)
.......................................
.......................................

Where energies are in "eV", atomic numbers in "Z", charges in "e", pitch angles are in "deg". Some templates have been included below:
Examples:

Output: Instrument accumulation grid:

Please fill-in the following form.

Sensor PostionFoV (pointing vector)FoV (normal vector)Parametes
1 = Strofio X(Rm)Y(Rm)Z(Rm)VxVyVznulnulnulMass 1Mass 2channels
2 = ELENA X(Rm)Y(Rm)Z(Rm)VxVyVzVxVyVzSectorsToF ch.sFreq
Examples: Click here for an help