Understanding the universe requires assembling raw data into meaningful charts, maps, and more. To help our scientists — and other scientists and everyday people from all over the world — interpret the data returned by instruments both close to and far from Earth, APL develops tools capable of representing data in innovative ways.
The data tools developed by APL include a range of highly regarded software programs and applications, not the least of which is the Small Body Mapping Tool (SBMT). Rated by Oracle as one of the five greatest Java apps ever written, SBMT takes data supplied by spacecraft and renders 3D visualizations. The visualizations allow scientists to see the surfaces of irregular bodies like asteroids, comets, and small moons.
Tools and Applications
Grid Agnostic MHD for Extended Research Applications
GAMERA is a new magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) simulation tool for simulating diverse magnetized plasma environments. It builds upon and improves the high-heritage Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry (LFM) code, including a high degree of optimization, minimal dependence on external libraries, and multiple numeric upgrades. GAMERA is a flexible, portable, user-friendly and exascale-capable tool designed to take advantage of supercomputer architectures of the future.
The Magnetic MEridional NEUTRAL Thermospheric Wind Model
MENTAT is a new empirical model of Earth’s thermospheric neutral winds, created using a technique that derives the wind speed from changes in the height of the local ionosphere. Thirty years of wind speeds in the local magnetic-meridional direction were derived at 40 locations around the globe from an NGDC database of bottomside hmF2 observations, and then those winds were used to develop a new empirical wind model. The findings of this research provide an improved understanding of thermospheric winds, and the resulting empirical wind model will be a useful tool for researchers who study Earth’s ionosphere and its dynamics.
The Small Body Mapping Tool
SBMT is an interactive tool that allows users to visualize and manipulate small body shape models in three dimensions. The tool provides a simple and easy way to search, access, and analyze spacecraft data of small bodies, such as asteroids and comets, and has been used by several flight mission teams, including Dawn, Rosetta, and OSIRIS-REx. SBMT is free to use and connects enthusiasts, students, and research professionals with analysis-ready data and state-of-the-art 3D geospatial analysis.