New magnetospheric ion composition measurement techniques

E. A. MacDonald, H. O. Funsten, E. E. Dors, M. F. Thomsen, P. H. Janzen, R. M. Skoug, G. D. Reeves, J. T. Steinberg, R. Harper, D. T. Young, J. M. Jahn, D. Reisenfeld

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

5 Scopus citations

Abstract

This paper provides a brief overview of three new instruments designed to measure ion composition in the magnetosphere at energies from a few eV/q to a maximum of 200 keV/q. Ion composition is not currently monitored at geosynchronous orbit and is an important ingredient to understand the dynamic near-Earth space environment. The unique ion composition measurement techniques in the detector sections following an electrostatic analyzer are the focus of this paper. The first instrument for geosynchronous orbit, the Advanced Miniaturized Plasma Spectrometer (AMPS), exploits the properties of a solid-state detector to measure ion composition by an E/q x E technique. The Z Plasma Spectrometer (ZPS) design, also for geosynchronous orbit, uses selective filtering by different thicknesses of carbon foil to separate H+ from O+. The third instrument, the Helium Oxygen Proton Electron spectrometer (HOPE), was selected for the upcoming Radiation Belt Storm Probes mission (RBSP) and uses a gated time-of-flight (TOF) technique to make high fidelity composition measurements in the intense inner magnetosphere. The applications of these three techniques to different regions and mission requirements are highlighted.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationFuture Perspectives of Space Plasma and Particle Instrumentation and International Collaborations - Proceedings of the International Conference
Pages168-172
Number of pages5
DOIs
StatePublished - 2009
EventInternational Conference on Future Perspectives of Space Plasma and Particle Instrumentation and International Collaborations - Tokyo, Japan
Duration: Nov 1 2006Nov 3 2006

Publication series

NameAIP Conference Proceedings
Volume1144
ISSN (Print)0094-243X
ISSN (Electronic)1551-7616

Conference

ConferenceInternational Conference on Future Perspectives of Space Plasma and Particle Instrumentation and International Collaborations
Country/TerritoryJapan
CityTokyo
Period11/1/0611/3/06

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