In-orbit background simulation study of SVOM/GRM

The Space-based multi-band astronomical Variable Objects Monitor (SVOM) is a Chinese-French satellite dedicated to the observation and study of Gamma-Ray Bursts (GRBs) and other variable sources. Among the four scientific payloads onboard SVOM, the Gamma-Ray Monitor (GRM) is designed to detect GRBs in the 15 keV to 5 MeV energy range. The final performance of GRM can be affected by the space environment background during the flight. In this paper, the authors present the in-orbit background simulation results by using the GEANT4 Monte-Carlo simulation toolkit. Additionally, we studied the Earth occultation effect of the space background due to the anti-solar pointing strategy of SVOM. The total background count rate of each spectrometer of GRM fluctuates between about 840 counts/s and 1341 counts/s, and is dominated by the cosmic X-ray background. Finally, we discuss the emission lines of the background and their potential use for in-orbit calibration of GRM. Our simulation study results can help to understand the impact of the space radiation environment on GRM with the latest geometrical model and can be further compared and updated with the real in-orbit measurement in the future.