A 3-D Global FDTD Courant-limit Model of the Earth for Long-time-span and High-altitude Applications

Authors

  • Yisong Zhang Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6953-0216
  • Dallin R. Smith Air Force Research Labs, Albuquerque, NM, USA
  • Jamesina J. Simpson Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.13052/2024.ACES.J.390205

Keywords:

ELF, electromagnetic wave propagation, FDTD, global propagation, long-time and high-altitude simulations, scattering

Abstract

A new global 3-D finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) model is introduced to simulate electromagnetic wave propagation around the Earth, including the lithosphere, oceans, atmosphere, and ionosphere regions. This model has several advantages over existing global models, which include grids that follow lines of latitude and longitude and geodesic grids comprised of hexagons and pentagons. The advantages of the new model include: (1) it may be run at the Courant-Friedrichs-Lewy (CFL) time step (as a result, it is termed the Courant-limit model); (2) subgrids may be added to specific regions of the model as needed in a straight-forward manner; and (3) the grid cells do not become infinitely larger as the grid is extended higher in altitude. As a result, this model is a better candidate than the others for investigating electromagnetic phenomena over long time spans of interest and for investigating atmosphere-ionosphere-magnetosphere coupling. The new model is first described and then validated by comparing results for extremely low frequency (ELF) propagation attenuation with corresponding analytical and measurement results reported in the literature.

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Author Biographies

Yisong Zhang, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Yisong Zhang received the B.S. and M.S. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, in 2017 and 2021, respectively. He is currently pursuing the Ph.D. degree in electrical and computer engineering at University of Utah.

His current research interests include finite-different time-domain modeling of geomagnetic induced current, numerical model acceleration.

Dallin R. Smith, Air Force Research Labs, Albuquerque, NM, USA

Dallin R. Smith received the B.S. degree in physics from Brighton Young University at Provo, Provo, UT, USA, in 2016, and the M.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical and computer engineering from the University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA, in 2019 and 2020, respectively.

He is currently with the Air Force Research Laboratory, Kirkland Air Force Base, Albuquerque, NM, USA. He is currently a Research Electrical Engineer with the Ionospheric Impacts Branch, Space Vehicles Directorate. His current research involves full-wave analysis of radio wave propagation in perturbed ionosphere conditions at high and equatorial latitudes of the Earth.

Jamesina J. Simpson, Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, UT, USA

Jamesina J. Simpson received the B.S. and Ph.D. degrees in electrical engineering from Northwestern University, Evanston, IL, USA, in 2003 and 2007, respectively. She is currently a Professor in the Electrical and Computer Engineering Department, University of Utah, Salt Lake City, USA. Her research lab encompasses the application of Maxwell’s equations finite-difference time-domain (FDTD) method to a wide variety of scientific and engineering applications across the electromagnetic spectrum.

Dr. Simpson received a 2010 NSF CAREER award, the 2012 IEEE AP-S Donald G. Dudley, Jr. Undergraduate Teaching Award, the 2017 International Union of Radio Science (URSI) Santimay Basu Medal, and the 2020 IEEE AP-S Lot Shafai Mid-Career Award.

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Published

2024-06-03

How to Cite

[1]
Y. Zhang, D. R. Smith, and J. J. Simpson, “A 3-D Global FDTD Courant-limit Model of the Earth for Long-time-span and High-altitude Applications”, ACES Journal, vol. 39, no. 02, pp. 123–129, Jun. 2024.

Issue

2024: Vol 39 Iss 2

Section

ACES-Monterey 2023

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