The MAVEN Solar Wind Electron Analyzer

Mitchell, David; Mazelle, C.; Sauvaud, J. A.; Thocaven, J. J.; Rouzaud, Jean-Noël; Fedorov, A.; Rouger, Ph.; Toublanc, D.; Taylor, Ellen; Gordon, D.; Robinson, Miles; Heavner, S.; Turin, P.; Diaz-Aguado, Millan; Curtis, D. W.; Lin, R. P.; Jakosky, B. M.

doi:10.1007/s11214-015-0232-1

Cited by 267 publications

(284 citation statements)

References 54 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

281

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…The PFP (Fig. 5) services the Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA) instrument (Mitchell et al 2014), the Solar Wind Ion Analyzer (SWIA) instrument , the Langmuir Probe and Waves (LPW) instrument (Andersson et al 2015), the Extreme Ultraviolet (EUV) instrument, the Solar Energetic Particles (SEP) instrument, and the SuperThermal And Thermal Ion Composition (STATIC) instrument (McFadden et al 2015) in addition to the Magnetometer instrumentation (MAG). The MAVEN magnetic field investigation (MAG) consists of two independent and identical fluxgate magnetometer systems that are interfaced to and controlled by the PFDPU.…”

Section: Investigation Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

The MAVEN Magnetic Field Investigation

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The MAVEN magnetic field investigation is part of a comprehensive particles and fields subsystem that will measure the magnetic and electric fields and plasma environment of Mars and its interaction with the solar wind. The magnetic field instrumentation consists of two independent tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer sensors, remotely mounted at the outer extremity of the two solar arrays on small extensions ("boomlets"). The sensors are controlled by independent and functionally identical electronics assemblies that are integrated within the particles and fields subsystem and draw their power from redundant power supplies within that system. Each magnetometer measures the ambient vector magnetic field over a wide dynamic range (to 65,536 nT per axis) with a resolution of 0.008 nT in the most sensitive dynamic range and an accuracy of better than 0.05 %. Both magnetometers sample the ambient magnetic field at an intrinsic sample rate of 32 vector samples per second. Telemetry is transferred from each magnetometer to the particles and fields package once per second and subsequently passed to the spacecraft after some reformatting. The magnetic field data volume may be reduced by averaging and decimation, when necessary to meet telemetry allocations, and application of data compression, utilizing a lossless 8-bit differencing scheme. The MAVEN magnetic field experiment may be reconfigured in flight to meet unanticipated needs and is fully hardware redundant. A spacecraft magnetic control program was implemented to provide a magnetically clean environment for the magnetic sensors and the MAVEN mission plan provides for occasional spacecraft maneuversmultiple rotations about the spacecraft x and z axes-to characterize spacecraft fields and/or instrument offsets in flight.

show abstract

Section: Investigation Designmentioning

confidence: 99%

The MAVEN Magnetic Field Investigation

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…High fluxes of ionospheric photoelectrons at periapsis make it difficult to observe this charge state, but at times we can measure a negatively charged hydrogen population with the Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA) instrument [Mitchell et al, 2015]. Figure 4 shows two orbits on 8 March 2015, preceding and subsequent to a highspeed interplanetary coronal mass ejection (CME).…”

Section: Relative Charge State Abundances Of Penetrating Solar Wind Hmentioning

confidence: 99%

MAVEN observations of solar wind hydrogen deposition in the atmosphere of Mars

Halekas

Lillis

Mitchell

et al. 2015

Geophysical Research Letters

Self Cite

133

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mars Atmosphere and Volatile EvolutioN mission (MAVEN) observes a tenuous but ubiquitous flux of protons with the same energy as the solar wind in the Martian atmosphere. During high flux intervals, we observe a corresponding negative hydrogen population. The correlation between penetrating and solar wind fluxes, the constant energy, and the lack of a corresponding charged population at intermediate altitudes implicate products of hydrogen energetic neutral atoms from charge exchange between the upstream solar wind and the exosphere. These atoms, previously observed in neutral form, penetrate the magnetosphere unaffected by electromagnetic fields (retaining the solar wind velocity), and some fraction reconvert to charged form through collisions with the atmosphere. MAVEN characterizes the energy and angular distributions of both penetrating and backscattered particles, potentially providing information about the solar wind, the hydrogen corona, and collisional interactions in the atmosphere. The accretion of solar wind hydrogen may provide an important source term to the Martian atmosphere over the planet's history.

show abstract

“…These measurements will also span the Mars seasons and range over a wide variation in solar radiation fluxes in order to capture changing solar cycle impacts upon the ionospheric thermal pressure. Finally, monitoring of upstream solar wind conditions is planned (SWEA, SWIA, SEP, MAG) to constrain the changing behavior of the solar wind dynamic pressure and interplanetary magnetic field (see Mitchell et al 2014;Halekas et al 2013, this issue;Larson et al 2014;and Connerney et al 2014). MAVEN thermal ion and electron measurements (densities and temperatures) are discussed in Sects.…”

Section: How Does the Upper Boundary Of The Ionosphere The Ionopausementioning

confidence: 99%

The Aeronomy of Mars: Characterization by MAVEN of the Upper Atmosphere Reservoir That Regulates Volatile Escape

et al. 2014

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Mars thermosphere-ionosphere-exosphere (TIE) system constitutes the atmospheric reservoir (i.e. available cold and hot planetary neutral and thermal ion species) that regulates present day escape processes from the planet. The characterization of this TIE system, including its spatial and temporal (e.g., solar cycle, seasonal, diurnal, episodic) variability is needed to determine present day escape rates. Without knowledge of the physics and chemistry creating this TIE region and driving its variations, it is not possible to constrain either the short term or long term histories of atmosphere escape from Mars. MAVEN (Mars Atmosphere and Volatile Evolution Mission) will make both in-situ and remote measurements of the state variables of the Martian TIE system. A full characterization of the thermosphere (∼100-250 km) and ionosphere (∼100-400 km) structure (and its variability) will be conducted with the collection of spacecraft in-situ measurements that systematically span most local times and latitudes, over a regular sampling of Mars seasons, and throughout the bottom half of the solar cycle. Such sampling will far surpass that available from existing spacecraft and ground-based datasets. In addition, remote measurements will provide a systematic mapping of the composition and structure of Mars neutral upper atmosphere and coronae (e.g. H, C, N, O), as well as probe lower altitudes. Such a detailed characterization is a necessary first step toward answering MAVEN's three main science questions (see Jakosky et al. 2014, this issue). This information will be used to determine present day escape rates from Mars, and provide an estimate of integrated loss to space throughout Mars history.

show abstract

The MAVEN Solar Wind Electron Analyzer

Cited by 267 publications

References 54 publications

The MAVEN Magnetic Field Investigation

The MAVEN Magnetic Field Investigation

MAVEN observations of solar wind hydrogen deposition in the atmosphere of Mars

The Aeronomy of Mars: Characterization by MAVEN of the Upper Atmosphere Reservoir That Regulates Volatile Escape

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About