Atmospheric density models are used in satellite orbit determination and prediction programs to compute the atmospheric drag force, as well as in upper atmosphere studies. They represent temperature and (partial) density as a function of altitude, latitude, local solar time, day-of-year, and parameters related to the state of atmospheric heating due to solar EUV emissions and solar wind. One of the objectives of the Advanced Thermosphere Modelling for Orbit Prediction (ATMOP; www.atmop.eu) project was to develop a new semi-empirical thermosphere model that is more accurate than up to then available models. DTM2013 is the final model of this project, released in November 2013.
DTM2013 is fitted to the complete CHAMP high-resolution density data set from 2000-2010, to GRACE density data for 2003-2010, and low-altitude (270 km) GOCE data from November 2009 through May 2012 in particular. High altitude density data as well as the Dynamics Explorer-2 and Atmosphere Explorer A/C/E mass spectrometer data have also been used. Daily-mean densities in the 200-500 km altitude range from the Air Force have been used for validation only. DTM2013 has the best overall fit to the density data when taking both assimilated and independent data into account.
This presentation will describe the DTM2013 model and its new interface, its performance compared to the pre-ATMOP DTM2009 and the CIRA reference models JB2008 and NRLMSISE-00, as well as the errors and uncertainty due to using satellite macro models and some model for the aerodynamic coefficient. This last point is particularly important at altitudes for which Helium is the main constituent, i.e. starting at approximately 700 km and 1000 km for low and high solar activity conditions, respectively