ESA Open Invitation to Tender AO9739
Open Date: 19/03/2019
Closing Date: 30/04/2019 13:00:00

Status: ISSUED
Reference Nr.: 19.1EP.01
Prog. Ref.: GSTP Element 1 Dev
Budget Ref.: E/0904-611 – GSTP Element 1 Dev
Special Prov.: BE+FR+GB
Tender Type: C
Price Range: > 500 KEURO
Products: Satellites & Probes / System Engineering Software / Environment Models and Computational Tools / Radiation belts, Solar energetic particles, Galactic cosmic rays, ¿ / Satellites & Probes / System Engineering Software / System Modelling & Simulation / Other
Techology Domains: Spacecraft Environments and Effects / Space Weather / Modelling Development and IT Infrastructure
Establishment: ESTEC
Directorate: Directorate of Tech, Eng. & Quality
Department: Electrical Department
Division: Power Systems, EMC & Space Environ.Div
Contract Officer: Karl, Heinz-Uwe
Industrial Policy Measure: N/A – Not apply
Last Update Date: 19/03/2019
Update Reason: Tender issue

The Virtual Space Weather Modelling Centre (VSWMC) Part 1 has successfully developed and demonstrated distributed, coupled model architecture and methods. This architecture has been enhanced to a software prototype level in Part 2 and has been integrated into theSpace Situational Awareness (SSA) programme portal for exploitation by SSA users with a user interface developed to deliver data output by models and visualisations allowing scientists, spacecraft operators and designers and operators of ground-based systems vulnerable to space weather effects to exploit the system and provide feedback. The modelling focus in Parts 1 and 2 has been on couplingmodels of the high solar corona with propagation of resulting phenomena through the interplanetary medium to drive models of the Earth’s magnetosphere and radiation belts. In Part 3, the system will be expanded to include additional models with a focus on extending the VSWMC capability to cover the lower solar corona, solar energetic particle propagation, the Earth’s ionosphere and thermosphere, and models of variation in ground level magnetic field. As part of the activity the VSWMC outputs shall be interfaced to effects tools for spacecraft and groundsystems. Real-time data streams are critical for the effectiveness of such a system and observational data integrated into the system shall be expanded with a focus on new data provided by the SSA programme. A further developmentof the VSWMC architecture shall expanding the model coupling interface to cover a range of computing languages and incorporate virtualisation where necessary in order to make the system more flexible. Focus will also be given to coordinated validation and establishing suitable end-to-end modelling concepts based on the available models. The VSWMC web interface shall be extended to display the results of new models with specific focus on the enhancement of the VSWMC development environment allowing developers of space weather models to more easily integrate their models into the VSWMC thus rapidly expanding the scope of the system. It shall be updated considering evolving SSA portal requirements and the development team shall interact with scientists on the advisory team and SSAexpert groups responsible for delivering products and services to end users. At the end of Part 3, the updated system will be deployed within the SSA programme providing a key element of the SSA space weather service allowing timely end-to-end simulations of space weather events, while allowing parallel development of the system and the models. This will require an increased focus on hardwareavailability and load distribution, system reliability and system monitoring.