DC Electric Field Measurement by the Double Probe System Aboard Geotail and its Simulation

Details DC Electric Field Measurement by the Double Probe System Aboard Geotail and its Simulation DC Electric Field Measurement by the Double Probe System Aboard Geotail and its Simulation

Dec 2005

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2005agufmsm33b0456k&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2005, abstract #SM33B-0456

Physics

2712 Electric Fields (2411), 2794 Instruments And Techniques

Scientific paper

We summarize the characteristics of the DC electric field measurement by the double probe system, PANT and EFD-P, aboard Geotail. The accuracy and correction factors for the gain (effective length) and off-set, which depends on ambient plasma conditions, are provided. Accurate measurements of electric fields are essential for space plasma studies, for example, plasma convection, wave-particle interactions, violation of MHD approximation, etc. One typical measurement techniques is the 'Double Probe method', identical to that of a voltmeter: the potential difference between two top-hat probes [cf. Pedersen et al., 1984]. This method can measure electric fields passively and continuously in all plasma conditions. However, the accuracy of the measured electric field values is limited. The probe measurement is also subjected to the variable gain (effective length) of the probe antenna and the artificial offset of the measured values. Those depend on a) the disturbance from ambient plasma and b) the disturbance from the spacecraft and the probe itself. In this paper, we show the results of the characteristics of DC electric field measurement by the PANT probe and the EFD-P (Electric Field Detector - Probe technique) receiver aboard Geotail [Tsuruda et al., 1994], in order to evaluate the accuracy, gain, and offset controlled by ambient plasmas. We conclude that the Geotail electric field measurement by the double probe system has the accuracy 0.4 mV/m for Ex and 0.3 mV/m for Ey, after the correction of the gain and offset. In better conditions, accuracy of Ey is 0.2 mV/m. The potential accuracy would be better because those values are limited by the accuracy of the particle measurement especially in low density conditions. In practical use, the corrections by long-term variation and spacecraft potential are effective to refine the electric field data. The characteristics of long-term variation and the dependences on ambient plasma are not fully understood well, yet. Further works will be needed based on the calibrated LEP data after 1998. It will also cover the conditions rejected in this paper, i.e., low density regions, potential controlled period, electric field quasi-parallel to magnetic field, etc. The comparison with EFD-B (EFD - Beam technique) data will also be included in order to reject the ambiguity in particle observations. In addition, we are trying to establish the numerical model of the double probe system for the full-quantitative understanding of the effect of potential structure and photoelectron distributions. Those will be the basis for planned experiments, BepiColombo to Mercury, ERG to the inner magnetosphere, and the multi-spacecraft magnetospheric mission SCOPE.

Affiliated with

Also associated with

No associations

Rating

DC Electric Field Measurement by the Double Probe System Aboard Geotail and its Simulation does not yet have a rating. At this time, there are no reviews or comments for this scientific paper.

If you have personal experience with DC Electric Field Measurement by the Double Probe System Aboard Geotail and its Simulation, we encourage you to share that experience with our LandOfFree.com community. Your opinion is very important and DC Electric Field Measurement by the Double Probe System Aboard Geotail and its Simulation will most certainly appreciate the feedback.

Rate now

Comments { 0 }

Profile ID: LFWR-SCP-O-763314