CCMC Thermospheric Neutral Density Scorecard

This project aims to develop a web application for visualizing model validation results of thermospheric models hosted by the Community Coordinated Modeling Center (CCMC). The application provides easy and interactive access to validation results and presents clear statistical representations of each model’s strengths and weaknesses, facilitating improvements for future models. Improved thermospheric models can be used to make advances in orbital computations and satellite atmospheric drag predictions.

The application compares 1-D neutral density outputs from various model runs with observational data from GOCE, CHAMP, GRACE, SWARM, and GRACE-FO across different time periods during the selected geomagnetically storm times from 2001 to 2023. Additionally, we outline the infrastructure for a long-term thermospheric model assessment spanning multiple years and varying levels of solar activity.