SAMI3 Simulations of Plasmasphere Refilling

The NRL SAMI3 ionosphere/plasmasphere code is used to study refilling of H⁺ and He⁺ ions in the plasmasphere. The SAMI3 ionosphere code includes 7 ion species (H⁺,He⁺,O⁺,N⁺,O_2⁺,N_2⁺,NO⁺), each treated as a separate fluid, with temperature equations being solved for H⁺, He⁺, O⁺ and e^-. We include a Weimer potential at high latitudes, driven by the solar wind, during a well-measured quiet period (2001 February 02-05). While SAMI2 has been shown to reproduce measured seasonal and solar-cycle variations in late-stage plasmasphere refilling rates, those studies did not include high altitude/latitude (L > 4) or zonal transport. Latest results from the three-dimensional SAMI3 code will be compared to measured plasmaspheric refilling rates for this period.