| 1. |
- Zouganelis, I., et al.
(författare)
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The Solar Orbiter Science Activity Plan : Translating solar and heliospheric physics questions into action
- 2020
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP SCIENCES S A. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 642
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Solar Orbiter is the first space mission observing the solar plasma both in situ and remotely, from a close distance, in and out of the ecliptic. The ultimate goal is to understand how the Sun produces and controls the heliosphere, filling the Solar System and driving the planetary environments. With six remote-sensing and four in-situ instrument suites, the coordination and planning of the operations are essential to address the following four top-level science questions: (1) What drives the solar wind and where does the coronal magnetic field originate?; (2) How do solar transients drive heliospheric variability?; (3) How do solar eruptions produce energetic particle radiation that fills the heliosphere?; (4) How does the solar dynamo work and drive connections between the Sun and the heliosphere? Maximising the mission's science return requires considering the characteristics of each orbit, including the relative position of the spacecraft to Earth (affecting downlink rates), trajectory events (such as gravitational assist manoeuvres), and the phase of the solar activity cycle. Furthermore, since each orbit's science telemetry will be downloaded over the course of the following orbit, science operations must be planned at mission level, rather than at the level of individual orbits. It is important to explore the way in which those science questions are translated into an actual plan of observations that fits into the mission, thus ensuring that no opportunities are missed. First, the overarching goals are broken down into specific, answerable questions along with the required observations and the so-called Science Activity Plan (SAP) is developed to achieve this. The SAP groups objectives that require similar observations into Solar Orbiter Observing Plans, resulting in a strategic, top-level view of the optimal opportunities for science observations during the mission lifetime. This allows for all four mission goals to be addressed. In this paper, we introduce Solar Orbiter's SAP through a series of examples and the strategy being followed.
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| 2. |
- Bale, S. D., et al.
(författare)
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The FIELDS Instrument Suite for Solar Probe Plus
- 2016
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Ingår i: Space Science Reviews. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 0038-6308 .- 1572-9672. ; 204:1-4, s. 49-82
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Forskningsöversikt (refereegranskat)abstract
- NASA's Solar Probe Plus (SPP) mission will make the first in situ measurements of the solar corona and the birthplace of the solar wind. The FIELDS instrument suite on SPP will make direct measurements of electric and magnetic fields, the properties of in situ plasma waves, electron density and temperature profiles, and interplanetary radio emissions, amongst other things. Here, we describe the scientific objectives targeted by the SPP/FIELDS instrument, the instrument design itself, and the instrument concept of operations and planned data products.
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| 3. |
- Schippers, P., et al.
(författare)
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Nanodust Detection between 1 and 5 AU Using Cassini Wave Measurements
- 2015
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Ingår i: Astrophysical Journal. - 0004-637X .- 1538-4357. ; 806:1
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The solar system contains solids of all sizes, ranging from kilometer-sized bodies to nano-sized particles. Nanograins have been detected in situ in the Earth's atmosphere, near cometary and giant planet environments, and more recently in the solar wind at 1 AU. The. latter nanograins are thought to be formed in the inner solar system dust cloud, mainly through the collisional break-up of larger grains, and are then picked up and accelerated by the magnetized solar wind because of their large charge-to-mass ratio. In the present paper, we analyze the low frequency bursty noise identified in the Cassini radio and plasma wave data during the spacecraft cruise phase inside Jupiter's orbit. The magnitude, spectral shape, and waveform of this broadband noise are. consistent with the signatures of the nano particles that traveled. at solar wind speed. and. impinged. on the spacecraft surface. Nanoparticles were observed whenever the radio instrument was turned on and able to detect them. at different heliocentric distances between Earth and Jupiter, suggesting their ubiquitous presence in the heliosphere. We analyzed the radial dependence of the nanodust flux with heliospheric distance and found that it is consistent with the dynamics of nanodust originating from the inner heliosphere and picked. up by the solar wind. The contribution of the nanodust produced in the asteroid belt appears to be negligible compared to the trapping region in the inner heliosphere. In contrast, further out, nanodust is. mainly produced by the volcanism of active moons such as Io and Enceladus.
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| 4. |
- Moncuquet, M., et al.
(författare)
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The radio waves and thermal electrostatic noise spectroscopy (SORBET) experiment on BEPICOLOMBO/MMO/PWI : Scientific objectives and performance
- 2006
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Ingår i: Advances in Space Research. - : Elsevier. - 0273-1177 .- 1879-1948. ; 38:4, s. 680-685
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- SORBET (Spectroscopie des Ondes Radio and du Bruit Electrostatique Thermique) is a radio HF spectrometer designed for the radio and Plasma Waves Instrument onboard BepiColombo/Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter (MMO), which performs remote and in situ measurements of waves (electromagnetic and electrostatic). Technically, SORBET includes a plasma wave spectrometer, with two E-field inputs from the two perpendicular electric antennas and one B-field input from a search coil, in the range 2.5-640 kHz. This frequency band includes the local gyrofrequency and plasma frequency expected on most part of the MMO orbits. SORBET also includes a higher frequency radio receiver for remote sensing in the range 500 kHz-10.2 MHz. Owing to its capabilities, SORBET will be able to address the following scientific objectives: High resolution mapping(similar to 30 km) of electron density and temperature in the solar wind and in the Hermean magnetosphere and exo-ionosphere, via the technique of Quasi-Thermal Noise (QTN) spectroscopy. These QTN measurements will be determinant for the dynamic modeling of the magnetosphere and will provide a fundamental input for the chemistry of cold ionized species (Na, K, O, . . .) in Mercury's environment. Detection and study of Hermean radio emissions, including possible cyclotron emissions (up to similar to 10-20 kHz) from mildly energetic electrons in most highly magnetized (polar?) regions, and possible synchrotron radiation (up to a few MHz?) from more energetic electrons. Monitoring of solar radio emissions up to similar to 10 MHz in order to create a solar activity index from the view point of Mercury, allowing to correlate it with the Hermean magnetospheric response. We especially discuss the capabilities of SORBET for performing the QTN spectroscopy in Mercury's magnetosphere, using the two electric dipole antennas equipping MMO, called MEFISTO and WPT.
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| 5. |
- Zaslavsky, A., et al.
(författare)
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First dust measurements with the Solar Orbiter Radio and Plasma Wave instrument
- 2021
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 656, s. A30-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. Impacts of dust grains on spacecraft are known to produce typical impulsive signals in the voltage waveform recorded at the terminals of electric antennas. Such signals (as may be expected) are routinely detected by the Time Domain Sampler (TDS) system of the Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument on board Solar Orbiter. Aims. We investigate the capabilities of RPW in terms of interplanetary dust studies and present the first analysis of dust impacts recorded by this instrument. Our purpose is to characterize the dust population observed in terms of size, flux, and velocity. Methods. We briefly discuss previously developed models of voltage pulse generation after a dust impact onto a spacecraft and present the relevant technical parameters for Solar Orbiter RPW as a dust detector. Then we present the statistical analysis of the dust impacts recorded by RPW /TDS from April 20, 2020 to February 27, 2021 between 0.5AU and 1AU. Results. The study of the dust impact rate along Solar Orbiter's orbit shows that the dust population studied presents a radial velocity component directed outward from the Sun. Its order of magnitude can be roughly estimated as nu(r,dust) similar or equal to 50 km s(-1), which is consistent with the flux of impactors being dominated by fi-meteoroids. We estimate the cumulative flux of these grains at 1AU to be roughly F-beta similar or equal to 8 x 10(-5) m(-2) s(-1) for particles of a radius r greater than or similar to 100 nm. The power law index ffi of the cumulative mass flux of the impactors is evaluated by two di fferents methods, namely: direct observations of voltage pulses and indirect e ffect on the impact rate dependency on the impact speed. Both methods give the following result: delta similar or equal to 0.3-0.4. Conclusions. Solar Orbiter RPW proves to be a suitable instrument for interplanetary dust studies, and the dust detection algorithm implemented in the TDS subsystem an e fficient tool for fluxes estimation. These first results are promising for the continuation of the mission, in particular, for the in situ study of the inner Solar System dust cloud outside of the ecliptic plane, which Solar Orbiter will be the first spacecraft to explore.
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