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SWIGS: Gorgon Magnetohydrodyamic Code Simulation Data: Magnetospheric and Ionospheric Conditions during Sudden Commencement

This dataset contains outputs generated using the Gorgon Magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) code, for simulations of the magnetosphere-ionosphere system during impact by a series of interplanetary shocks with different solar wind conditions and dipole magnetic field orientations.

The MHD equations were solved in the magnetosphere on a regular 3-D cartesian grid of resolution 0.25 RE (Earth radii), covering a domain of dimensions (-30,90) RE in X, (-40,40) RE in Y and (-40,40) RE in Z with an inner boundary at 3 RE. In this coordinate system the Sun lies in the negative X-direction, the Z axis is aligned to the dipole in the 0 degree tilt case (where positive tilt points the north magnetic pole towards the Sun), and Y completes the right-handed set. The ionospheric variables were calculated on a separate 2-D spherical grid of dimensions 128x256 in latitude and longitude (with the north pole at 90 degrees latitude and the Sun at 180 degrees longitude), coupled to the magnetospheric domain at the inner boundary.

5 different shocks were simulated in total, with the following solar wind jump conditions injected at the sunward edge at 7200s simulation time:

Shocks 1-4: n = 5 /cm^3 -> 10 /cm^3 (number density)

v = 400 km/s -> 600 km/s (velocity)

T = 5 eV -> 417 eV (temperature)

B = 2 nT -> 4 nT (interplanetary magnetic field)

Shock 5: n = 5 /cm^3 -> 20 /cm^3 (number density)

v = 400 km/s -> 1000 km/s (velocity)

T = 5 eV -> 1250 eV (temperature)

B = 2 nT -> 4 nT (interplanetary magnetic field)

Shocks 1, 3 and 5 had an interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) clock angle of 180 degrees, i.e. B = Bz = -2 nT, whereas Shocks 2 and 3 had IMF clock angles of 135 degrees and 90 degrees, respectively. In addition, Shocks 1, 2, 3 and 5 had zero dipole tilt, whereas Shock 4 had a tilt angle of 30 degrees. These simulations employed zero electrical resistivity. The simulations of Shocks 1, 3 and 5 were then repeated utilising an explicit resistivity eta with value of eta/mu_0 = 5e10 m^2/s. The full set of 8 simulations are labelled 'Shock1', 'Shock2', 'Shock3', 'Shock4', 'Shock5' for the zero resistivity runs and 'Shock1_res', 'Shock3_res' and 'Shock5_res' for those with explicit resistivity.

Output grid data are timestamped in seconds and are defined at the centre of the grid cells, stored as .hdf5 files for each timestep. Output time-series data are for a single variable over a simulation time range, stored in .csv files. The simulation data corresponding to each shock are stored in separate directories, according to the simulation labels listed above.

The magnetospheric variables are stored in the files 'Gorgon_[YYYYMMDD]_[RUN]_MS_params_[XXXX]s.hdf5' where RUN is the simulation label and XXXX is the simulation time in seconds. The magnetospheric data are in SI units and include the magnetic field vector ('Bvec_c'), electric current density vector ('jvec') and ion thermal pressure ('P') for multiple timesteps following initialisation at 7200s of simulation time. The dataset for each magnetospheric variable is of shape (480,320,320,3) for vectors and (480,320,320) for scalars, where the first 3 dimensions are the grid indices in (X,Y,Z) indexed from negative to positive, and the final dimension is the cartesian vector components in (i,j,k).

Similarly, the ionospheric data are stored as 'Gorgon_[YYYYMMDD]_[RUN]_IS_params_[XXXX]s.hdf5', containing the field-aligned current density ('FAC') in SI units for multiple timesteps following initialisation at 7200s of simulation time. The dataset for each ionospheric variable is of shape (130, 256) where the first dimension is the grid index in colatitude, indexed from the north towards the south (i.e. 0 to 180 degrees), and the second dimension is the grid index in longitude, indexed from midnight towards noon via dawn (i.e. 0 to 360 degrees).

Finally, the time-series data are stored as 'Gorgon_[YYYYMMDD]_[RUN]_[XXX].csv' where 'X' is the simulation label and 'XXX' is the time-series variable. These include the subsolar magnetopause standoff distance 'RMP' in RE, and the North (and South) polar cap flux content 'FPC' in Wb*RE^2; in each case the first column contains the simulation time in seconds, with the variables in the second (and third) column(s). NE/P017142/1

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Date (Publication)
2022-04-11T10:49:17
Date (Creation)
2022-04-11T10:49:17
Identifier
https://catalogue.ceda.ac.uk/uuid/a3231e64ffea42e7ab9ff0cf72302050
Identifier
NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis / a3231e64ffea42e7ab9ff0cf72302050
Identifier
doi / 10.5285/a3231e64ffea42e7ab9ff0cf72302050
Author
  Unavailable - Eggington, Joseph ( author )
Author
  Unavailable - Desai, Ravindra ( author )
Author
  Unavailable - Mejnertsen, Lars ( author )
Author
  Unavailable - Chittenden, Jeremy ( author )
Author
  Unavailable - Eastwood, Jonathan ( author )
Custodian
  NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis - custodian
RAL Space , STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus , Didcot , OX11 0QX , United Kingdom
01235446432
Distributor
  NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis - distributor
RAL Space , STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus , Didcot , OX11 0QX , United Kingdom
01235446432
Principal investigator
  Unavailable - Eastwood, Jonathan ( principal_investigator )
pointofContact
  NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis - point_of_contact
RAL Space , STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus , Didcot , OX11 0QX , United Kingdom
01235446432
Publisher
  NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis - publisher
RAL Space , STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus , Didcot , OX11 0QX , United Kingdom
01235446432
Maintenance and update frequency
notPlanned Not planned
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dataset Dataset
Keywords
  • SWIGS
GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
  • atmospheric conditions
Access constraints
otherRestrictions Other restrictions
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Public data: access to these data is available to both registered and non-registered users.
Use constraints
otherRestrictions Other restrictions
Other constraints
Under the following licence http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/, appropriate use of these data may fall under any use. This message is intended as guidance, always read the full licence. When using these data you must cite them correctly using the citation given on the CEDA Data Catalogue record.
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grid Grid
Metadata language
EnglishEnglish
Topic category
  • Climatology, meteorology, atmosphere
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Begin date
2022-03-23T00:00:00
End date
2022-03-23T00:00:00
Unique resource identifier
WGS 84
Distribution format
  • Data are HDF5 formatted. ()

Distributor
  NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis - Data Center Contact
RAL Space , STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus , Didcot , OX11 0QX , United Kingdom
01235446432
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CEDA Data Catalogue Page

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Date (Publication)
2010-12-08
Statement
Data were produced by the project team and archived at CEDA as supplied by the provider
File identifier
a3231e64ffea42e7ab9ff0cf72302050 XML
Metadata language
EnglishEnglish
Character set
8-bit variable size UCS Transfer Format, based on ISO/IEC 10646 UTF8
Hierarchy level
dataset Dataset
Date stamp
2025-11-16T03:24:55
Metadata standard name
UK GEMINI
Metadata standard version
2.3
Point of contact
  NERC EDS Centre for Environmental Data Analysis
RAL Space , STFC Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Harwell Campus , Didcot , OX11 0QX , United Kingdom
01235446432
 
 

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Keywords

GEMET - INSPIRE themes, version 1.0
atmospheric conditions

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