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STK/Space Environment and Effects Tool

STK/Space Environment and Effects Tool STK/Space Environment and Effects Tool STK/Space Environment and Effects Tool (STK/SEET) is designed for use by spacecraft designers, analysts, and operators to evaluate the effects of the space environment on their spacecraft. Developed by AGI Business Partner Atmospheric and Environmental Research, Inc. (AER), STK/SEET provides comprehensive modeling of the near-Earth space environment and its expected impacts on a space vehicle. STK/SEET calculates spacecraft exposure to ionizing particles, thermal radiation and space debris throughout the orbit. This level of analysis is especially critical today as environmental risks to spacecraft are mounting due to higher levels of man-made debris and increasingly energetic natural phenomena such as the Sun's solar flare activities.

STK/SEET's functionality is provided by five key features consisting of scientific models of the space environment. These features are seamlessly integrated into the overall STK user interface. STK/SEET uses models from Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) and NASA to provide state-of-the-art environmental assessments. The AFRL models are adapted directly from the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) AF-GEOSpace Version 2.1P software suite. The AFRL models have been made available for STK/SEET through a Cooperative Research & Development Agreement (CRADA) between AFRL and AER.

Download a recording and PowerPoint presentation of the AGI "How to" webinar: Analyzing the effects of the space environment.

  • Highlights

    • Radiation Environment
      • - Ionizing dose rate
      • - Total radiation dose
      • - AFRL and NASA radiation belt models
    • South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA)
      • - Entry/exit times, duration, altitude
      • - Altitudes of 400-1500 km
      • - 2-D and 3-D visualization of SAA boundaries
    • Thermal Environment
      • - Vehicle equilibrium temperature
      • - User-specified values for thermal and radiative properties
    • Impact Environment
      • - Meteor and orbital debris particles
      • - Particle mass distribution
      • - AF-GEOspace meteor and debris models
    • Magnetic Field
      • - Trace and display magnetic field lines
      • - Compute dipole or McIlwain L-shells
      • - IGRF main field model, user selectable external field

  • Key Features

  • Radiation environment

    The STK/SEET Radiation Environment component computes the expected dose rate and total dose due to energetic particle fluxes for a range of shielding thicknesses and materials. It can also compute the energetic proton and/or electron fluxes for a wide range of particle energies. These quantities are computed for a specified satellite orbit as a function of time or for a specified set of spatial of coordinates. Information on satellite dosing and incident energetic particle flux is important to satellite designers and mission planners because devices on satellites degrade over time due to the total collected dose as well as the instantaneous dose rate, both of which depend on the incident energetic particle flux. STK/SEET allows the user to choose from AFRL CRRES or NASA standard models, or the user can allow STK/SEET to select the best model for the specific orbit.

    South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA)

    A key feature of STK/SEET is its ability to compute a spacecraft's entrance and exit times through the SAA. The SAA is a region of space with an enhanced concentration of ionizing radiation due to the configuration of the Earth's magnetic field. Such radiation can damage spacecraft electronics and cause Single Event Upsets (SEU), which can impair the functioning of electronic components. The SAA Transit component also computes the energy flux and/or flux contour of SEU relative probability for altitudes between 400 and 1500 km. The model of the SAA is based on data received from the Compact Environment Anomaly Sensor (CEASE) detector flown on the Tri-Service Experiment (TSX-5) satellite during the epoch 2000 - 2006.

    Particle impacts

    The Particle Impacts component computes the total mass distribution of meteor and orbital debris particles that impact a spacecraft along its orbit during a specified time period. It can also compute the mass distribution of these particles above a user-specified satellite surface damage threshold. The impact of meteors and orbital debris can cause significant damage to space vehicles due to their high velocities. STK/SEET allows the user to define or select from lists of surface materials and properties. The user can also custom-design meteor storms to build worst-case scenarios. The particle impacts algorithms are based on AF-GEOSpace meteor and debris models.

    Vehicle temperature

    For satellite subsystem design and operations, thermal environment energy combined with any internal heat dissipation requirements must be considered. STK/SEET determines the mean temperature of a spacecraft due to direct solar flux, Earth albedo and long wave radiation, and internal energy dissipation using thermal balancing equations. A range of values for the Earth albedo and infrared radiation are supplied. The user may specify planar or spherical objects with particular orientation for the computation of temperature.

    Magnetic field

    STK/SEET uses a highly customizable set of conditions to compute the local magnetic field at your satellite. The Magnetic Field component provides the total magnitude along the user-specified satellite path using a user-specified or default magnetic field model. This magnetic field data can also be computed on a specified set of spatial coordinates. Field line tracing for display and magnetic conjugacy computation are also provided. Information about the local magnetic field at the satellite is useful for satellite designers, mission planners, and operators because the local radiation (energetic particle) environment is organized by the magnetic field, and sometimes the local field direction as measured on the satellite can give information about the satellite attitude. This component provides common magnetic field functionality with current AF-GEOSpace magnetic field models, including simple, tilted and offset dipole models based on time-interpolated moments of the full IGRF field representation, full time-interpolated IGRF, and full IGRF plus Olson-Pfitzer (1977) or Tsyganenko (1987, 1989) external field models. The component can also compute dipole L, McIlwain L, and B/B0 (ratio of magnetic field strength at the current location to that at the magnetic equator) at the specified input coordinates.

    Specialized report and graph options

    Makes available numerous reports and graphs that are customizable. Dynamic displays and strip charts containing STK/SEET calculations can be displayed in real-time as STK animates through a scenario.

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Supported OS and Hardware Requirements

Supported Operating Systems
  • Windows
  • XP Professional
  • Server 2003, 2008
  • Vista
  • Windows 7
  • Linux (TBA)
Minimum Hardware Requirements
  • 1.4 GHz Core Duo Processor
  • 2 GB RAM, 1 GB Disk Space for Installation
  • Dedicated Storage for Data, based on your needs
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