An Open-Source Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Simulation Code PicUp3D: Tests and Validations

The PicUp3D code is a prototype of simulation software dedicated to quantitative and accurate modeling of spacecraft plasma interactions developed in the context of a European scientific and industrial network Spacecraft Plasma Interaction Network in Europe. It is based on a full three-dimensional kinetic particle-in-cell description of the electrons and the ion dynamics. The use of unstructured schemes in the spacecraft geometrical description has allowed to model successfully realistic geometries. The code is organized around an open and versatile object-oriented library and is fully written in JAVA. This paper presents the basic features and the first validation tests of PicUp3D, which are now made publicly and freely available on the Web. Developed in an open-source approach, it is believed that this code will meet the requirements of the scientific community in terms of geometric and physics accuracy especially for instrument calibration and observation analysis.