Radiation Belt Model Development and Validation

The VALIRENE project aimed at the detailed validation of the AP9/AE9 (IRENE) and SPM models against in-situ datasets, including but not limited to ESA and other European spacecraft. The AP9/AE9/SPM models were compared with the ECSS standard models and other radiation environment models. The datasets used in the validation were ingested into a database based on ESA’s open data interface (ODI) and were delivered to ESA. Systems for the use of the Ap9/AE9/SPM models for both long term radiation effects (e.g. dose, non-ionising dose, solar cell degradation and human effects) and shorter term radiation effects (e.g. internal charging, instrument noise, Single Event Effects) were established to facilitate the comparison of effects calculated from the datasets and the models.


Project Consortium:

- DH Consultancy, Belgium (Prime Contractor)
- RadMod Research, United Kingdom
- Kallisto Consultancy, United Kingdom
- Institute of Accelerating Systems and Applications (IASA), University of Athens


IASA Team Members: Prof. Ioannis A. Daglis (Principal Investigator), Dr. Ingmar Sandberg, Dr. Omiros Giannakis, Dr. Georgios Provatas, Mr. Sigiava Aminalragia-Giamini, M.Sc., Mr. Christos Katsavrias, M.Sc., Mr. Constantinos Papadimitriou, Mr. Antonios Tsigkanos, M. Eng., Ms. M. Georgiou, M.Sc.


Funded by the European Space Agency (ESA)

Total Budget: 300,000€
IASA Budget: 85,000€

Duration: September 2016 – August 2019