SWMF/GM=BATSRUS

The SWMF is a software framework that allows integration of various models into a coherent system. The SWMF allows running and coupling any meaningful subset of the models together. The main applications of the SWMF are related to space physics and space weather, but it can be, and has been, used for other applications that the models allow.

Global Magnetosphere (GM) = BATSRUS BATSRUS, the Block-Adaptive-Tree-Solarwind-Roe-Upwind-Scheme, was developed by the Computational Magnetohydrodynamics (MHD) Group at the University of Michigan, now the Center for Space Environment Modeling (CSEM). It was designed using the Message Passing Interface (MPI) and the Fortran90 standard and executes on a massively parallel computer system. The BATSRUS code solves 3D MHD equations in finite volume form using numerical methods related to Roe's Approximate Riemann Solver. BATSRUS uses an adaptive grid composed of rectangular blocks arranged in varying degrees of spatial refinement levels.

This is the version used in the SWMF 2018 as the Global Magnetosphere (GM) component, aka BATSRUS version 9.30

General SWMF inputs include setting the number of processors and their allocation to the included models. The date and time to simulate and the length of the run are also necessary.

Inputs to BATSRUS are the solar wind plasma (density, 3D velocity, temperature) and 3D magnetic field values, transformed into GSM coordinates and propagated from the solar wind monitoring satellite's position propagated to the sunward boundary of the simulation domain. The Earth's magnetic field is approximated by a dipole with updated axis orientation and co-rotating inner magnetospheric plasma or with a fixed orientation during the entire simulation run. The orientation angle is updated according to the time simulated or a fixed axis position can be specified independently from the time interval that is simulated.

In addition, an input file with a large number of code options is read in.

Outputs from GM include code restart files and plot files with a wide variety of magnetospheric plasma parameters, such as atomic mass unit density N, pressure P, velocity V_x, V_y, V_z, magnetic field B_x, B_y, B_z, electric currents, J_x, J_y, J_z.