PyGCPM

PyGCPM is a Python 3 wrapper for the Global Core Plasma Model (Gallagher et al., 2000). This module uses version 2.4 from https://plasmasphere.nasa.gov/models/

The original code has been modified slightly such that it produces less output to the terminal and the path of the data files used is passed through a C wrapper so that the Fortran code is able to find them.

It's also worth noting that the IGRF component of the model needs updating - strange things may happen with years beyond ~2010. I will fix this.

Installation

Using pip:

python3 -m pip install PyGCPM --user

or,

pip3 install PyGCPM --user

From this repo (a C and Fortran compiler are required):

git clone https://github.com/mattkjames7/PyGCPM.git
cd PyGCPM/
python3 -m pip install . --user

Pull requests build and test wheels for Linux (x86-64 and ARM64), macOS (Intel and Apple Silicon), and Windows x86-64. Maintainers can run the release workflow to create a version tag, attach all distributions to a GitHub release, and publish them to PyPI or TestPyPI.

Usage

So far, there are only two working functions - GCPM and PlotEqSlice, the PlotMLTSlice function is doing odd things. It's worth noting that this model will take some time to run with large numbers of points.

GCPM

This function takes in position in the Solar Magnetospheric (SM) coordinate system, along with a date and a time then produces a model output for each position.

import PyGCPM
ne,nH,nHe,nO = PyGCPM.GCPM(x,y,z,Date,ut,Kp=Kp,Verbose=Verbose)

Where the inputs are:

Function outputs:

PlotEqSlice

This function will plot a slice through the SM equator (z_SM = 0).

import PyGCPM
PyGCPM.PlotEqSlice(Date,ut,Parameter='ne',Rmax=10.0,dR=0.5,Kp=1.0,fig=None,
		maps=[1,1,0,0],zlog=True,cmap='gnuplot',scale=None,Verbose=False)

References

Gallagher, D. L., Craven, P. D., & Comfort, R. H. (2000, aug). Global core plasma model. J. Geophys. Res. Sp. Phys., 105(A8), 18819–18833. doi: 10.1029/1999JA000241