Spacecraft surface charging induced by severe environments at geosynchronous orbit

Abstract

Severe and extreme surface charging on geosynchronous spacecraft is examined through the analysis of 16 years of data from particles detectors on‐board the Los Alamos National Laboratory spacecraft. Analysis shows that high spacecraft frame potentials are correlated with 10 to 50 keV electron fluxes, especially when these fluxes exceed 1 × 108 cm−2 s−1 sr−1. Four criteria have been used to select severe environments: 1) large flux of electrons with energies above 10 keV, 2) large fluxes of electrons with energies below 50 keV and above 200 keV, 3) large flux of electrons with energies below 50 keV and low flux with energies above 200 keV, and 4) long periods of time with a spacecraft potential below ‐ 5 kV. They occur preferentially during either geomagnetic storms or intense isolated substorms, during the declining phase of the solar cycle, during equinox seasons and close to midnight local time. The set of anomalies reported in Choi et al. (2011) is concomitant with a new database constructed from these events. The worst‐case environments exceed the spacecraft design guidelines by up to a factor of 10 for energies below 10 keV. They are fitted with triple Maxwellian distributions in order to facilitate their use by spacecraft designers as alternative conditions for the assessment of worst‐case surface charging.

On the Accuracy of Reconstructing Plasma Sheet Electron Fluxes From Temperature and Density Models

“…It has been established that the high flux of electrons with energies E ≥ 10 keV is the main factor leading to the hazardous level of surface charging (e.g Thomsen et al, 2013;Ferguson et al, 2015;Matéo-Vélez et al, 2018). It has been established that the high flux of electrons with energies E ≥ 10 keV is the main factor leading to the hazardous level of surface charging (e.g Thomsen et al, 2013;Ferguson et al, 2015;Matéo-Vélez et al, 2018).…”

Validation of Inner Magnetosphere Particle Transport and Acceleration Model (IMPTAM) With Long‐Term GOES MAGED Measurements of keV Electron Fluxes at Geostationary Orbit

“…Their dynamics is determined by convective and substorm-associated electric fields in the magnetosphere (Ganushkina et al, 2013(Ganushkina et al, , 2014Kerns et al, 1994;Liemohn et al, 1998;Mauk & Meng, 1983). When a satellite anomaly due to surface charging occurs, the radiation environment may be more extreme than that given by the specification models used for design (Iucci et al, 2005;Matéo-Vélez et al, 2018). However, data may not be available at the location of the satellite to determine the cause of the anomaly.…”

Space Radiation and Plasma Effects on Satellites and Aviation: Quantities and Metrics for Tracking Performance of Space Weather Environment Models

“…Additionally, electric fields caused by the movement of a conducting body across a planetary magnetic field can induce currents and result in charging in the structure. As indicated in Figure , ring current, aurora, and plasma sheet particles can be potential space environmental sources for surface charging (e.g., Ganushkina et al, ; Matéo‐Vélez et al, ).…”

“…A few eV to 50‐keV electrons are considered source for surface charging (Matéo‐Vélez et al, ) and electrons greater than 100 keV (>100 keV) are responsible for internal charging (the main source is radiation belt electrons). Sometimes it is difficult to differentiate between surface charging and internal charging as the root cause of an anomaly.…”