1. |
- Maksimovic, M., et al.
(författare)
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First observations and performance of the RPW instrument on board the Solar Orbiter mission
- 2021
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 656
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument on the ESA Solar Orbiter mission is designed to measure in situ magnetic and electric fields and waves from the continuum up to several hundred kHz. The RPW also observes solar and heliospheric radio emissions up to 16 MHz. It was switched on and its antennae were successfully deployed two days after the launch of Solar Orbiter on February 10, 2020. Since then, the instrument has acquired enough data to make it possible to assess its performance and the electromagnetic disturbances it experiences. In this article, we assess its scientific performance and present the first RPW observations. In particular, we focus on a statistical analysis of the first observations of interplanetary dust by the instrument's Thermal Noise Receiver. We also review the electro-magnetic disturbances that RPW suffers, especially those which potential users of the instrument data should be aware of before starting their research work.
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2. |
- Maksimovic, M., et al.
(författare)
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The Solar Orbiter Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument
- 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
- The Radio and Plasma Waves (RPW) instrument on the ESA Solar Orbiter mission is described in this paper. This instrument is designed to measure in-situ magnetic and electric fields and waves from the continuous to a few hundreds of kHz. RPW will also observe solar radio emissions up to 16 MHz. The RPW instrument is of primary importance to the Solar Orbiter mission and science requirements since it is essential to answer three of the four mission overarching science objectives. In addition RPW will exchange on-board data with the other in-situ instruments in order to process algorithms for interplanetary shocks and type III langmuir waves detections.
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3. |
- 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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4. |
- Vecchio, A., et al.
(författare)
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Solar Orbiter/RPW antenna calibration in the radio domain and its application to type III burst observations
- 2021
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Ingår i: Astronomy and Astrophysics. - : EDP Sciences. - 0004-6361 .- 1432-0746. ; 656, s. A33-
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Context. In order to allow for a comparison with the measurements from other antenna systems, the voltage power spectral density measured by the Radio and Plasma waves receiver (RPW) on board Solar Orbiter needs to be converted into physical quantities that depend on the intrinsic properties of the radiation itself (e.g., the brightness of the source). Aims. The main goal of this study is to perform a calibration of the RPW dipole antenna system that allows for the conversion of the voltage power spectral density measured at the receiver's input into the incoming flux density. Methods. We used space observations from the Thermal Noise Receiver (TNR) and the High Frequency Receiver (HFR) to perform the calibration of the RPW dipole antenna system. Observations of type III bursts by the Wind spacecraft are used to obtain a reference radio flux density for cross-calibrating the RPW dipole antennas. The analysis of a large sample of HFR observations (over about ten months), carried out jointly with an analysis of TNR-HFR data and prior to the antennas' deployment, allowed us to estimate the reference system noise of the TNR-HFR receivers. Results. We obtained the effective length, l(eff), of the RPW dipoles and the reference system noise of TNR-HFR in space, where the antennas and pre-amplifiers are embedded in the solar wind plasma. The obtained l(eff) values are in agreement with the simulation and measurements performed on the ground. By investigating the radio flux intensities of 35 type III bursts simultaneously observed by Wind and Solar Orbiter, we found that while the scaling of the decay time as a function of the frequency is the same for the Waves and RPW instruments, their median values are higher for the former. This provides the first observational evidence that Type III radio waves still undergo density scattering, even when they propagate from the source, in a medium with a plasma frequency that is well below their own emission frequency.
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