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The electric field and wave experiment for the cluster mission

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TLDR
The electric-field and wave experiment (EFW) on Cluster is designed to measure the electric field and density fluctuations with sampling rates up to 36000 samples s-1 as mentioned in this paper, which can also be used to determine the electron density and temperature.
Abstract
The electric-field and wave experiment (EFW) on Cluster is designed to measure the electric-field and density fluctuations with sampling rates up to 36000 samples s-1. Langmuir probe sweeps can also be made to determine the electron density and temperature. The instrument has several important capabilities. These include (1) measurements of quasi-static electric fields of amplitudes up to 700 mV m-1 with high amplitude and time resolution, (2) measurements over short periods of time of up to five simualtaneous waveforms (two electric signals and three magnetic signals from the seach coil magnetometer sensors) of a bandwidth of 4 kHz with high time resolution, (3) measurements of density fluctuations in four points with high time resolution. Among the more interesting scientific objectives of the experiment are studies of nonlinear wave phenomena that result in acceleration of plasma as well as large- and small-scale interferometric measurements. By using four spacecraft for large-scale differential measurements and several Langmuir probes on one spacecraft for small-scale interferometry, it will be possible to study motion and shape of plasma structures on a wide range of spatial and temporal scales. This paper describes the primary scientific objectives of the EFW experiment and the technical capabilities of the instrument.

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Citations
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Identification of kinetic alfven wave turbulence in the solar wind

TL;DR: In this paper, the nature of small-scale turbulent fluctuations in the solar wind is investigated using a comparison of Cluster magnetic and electric field measurements to predictions arising from models consisting of either kinetic Alfven waves or whistler waves.
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Cluster - Science and Mission Overview

TL;DR: The European Space Agency's Cluster program as discussed by the authors is designed to study the small-scale spatial and temporal characteristics of the magnetospheric and near-Earth solar wind plasma, which is composed of four identical spacecraft which will be able to make physical measurements in 3D. The relative distance between the four spacecraft will be varied between 200 and 18000 km during the course of the mission.
References
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Journal ArticleDOI

Characteristics of solitary waves and weak double layers in the magnetospheric plasma.

TL;DR: The wave experiment of the Viking satellite frequently detected dynamic small-scale (up to 100 m), large-amplitude, rarefactive solitary waves of negative potential moving upwards along the magnetic field lines as mentioned in this paper.
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The dc and ac electric field, plasma density, plasma temperature, and field‐aligned current experiments on the S3‐3 satellite

TL;DR: In this paper, measurements of dc electric fields, field-aligned currents, the plasma density, and wave electric fields and density fluctuations have been made for the first time at auroral zone altitudes between 1000 and 8000 km on the S3-3 satellite.
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Self‐consistent theory of time‐dependent convection in the Earth's magnetotail

TL;DR: In this paper, a self-consistent theory of time-dependent convection in the earth's magnetotail is developed, which is consistent with a quasi-periodic evolution of the tail, where periods of quasi-static compressional convection are followed by phases of dynamic evolution.
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Quasistatic electric field measurements with spherical double probes on the GEOS and ISEE satellites

TL;DR: In this article, the authors used spherical double probes for measurements of electric fields on the GEOS-1, GEOS2, and ISEE-1 satellites and compared the results with measurements of plasma drift perpendicular to the magnetic field in the solar wind and the magnetosphere and the error bar for the absolute values of the electric field is found to be in the range ±(0.5-1.0) mV m-1 whereas relative variations can be determined with much better accuracy.
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Rotational discontinuities and the structure of the magnetopause

TL;DR: In this paper, the symmetric and asymmetric rotational discontinuities were studied by means of a one-dimensional computer simulation and by single-particle trajectory calculations, respectively, and it was shown that symmetric rotation is stable for both ion and electron senses of rotation with a thickness of the order of a few ion gyroradii.
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