Development of a fast impedance probe for absolute electron density measurements in the ionosphere

Steigies, C. T.; Block, Dietmar; Hirt, M.; Hipp, B; Piel, A.; Grygorczuk, J.

doi:10.1088/0022-3727/33/4/314

Cited by 27 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 10 publications

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“…In recent years, they obtained impedance probe data from their instrument unit on-board International Space Station (Barjatya et al, 2009). On the other hand, German group has studied the impedance probe, and their impedance probe system has the time resolution of 40 ms by using the DDS (Direct Digital Synthesizer), PLD (programmable logic device) and A/D converter (Steigies et al, 2000).…”

Section: Applications Of Impedance Probe In Other Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impedance probe technique to detect the absolute number density of electrons on-board spacecraft

Wakabayashi¹,

Suzuki²,

Uemoto³

et al. 2013

An Introduction to Space Instrumentation

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This text focuses on the impedance probe which is powerful method for observation of absolute electron density in plasma. In several countries, impedance probe has been used during many rocket campaigns and satellite missions by many scientists' groups. In Japan, Oya (1966) realized remarkably accurate electron density observation on-board sounding rocket. Since then, the impedance probe has taken part in absolute electron density measurement to proceed ionospheric and space plasma science in Japan. This text aims to describe impedance probe method which is developed by Oya (1966) as excellent example of in-situ observation of absolute electron density. The following description will provide the historical background, basic theory, advantages, important reminders and specific application ideas of sounding rocket observations during SEEK-2, DELTA and WIND campaigns. This text will refrain from commenting a lot about impedance probe instruments on-board satellites because the authors don't have many experiences with carrying out satellite missions. However, description in this issue will provide some information for future application of satellite experiment. It is expected that engineers, scientists and graduate students who attempt to carry out such impedance probe observation will find effective skills of the method through the text.

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Section: Applications Of Impedance Probe In Other Groupsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impedance probe technique to detect the absolute number density of electrons on-board spacecraft

Wakabayashi¹,

Suzuki²,

Uemoto³

et al. 2013

An Introduction to Space Instrumentation

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“…The remaining issue is how to evaluate the electron temperature T e from the sheath radius or the probe potential. Some previous works (e.g., Aso, 1973;Steigies et al, 2000;Wakabayashi and Ono, 2006) assumed that the thickness of the sheath is proportional to the Debye length…”

Section: Sheath Capacitance In Impedance Probe Measurementsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sheath capacitance observed by impedance probes onboard sounding rockets: Its application to ionospheric plasma diagnostics

et al. 2010

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Ion sheath which is formed around an electrode signi cantly affects the impedance of the probe immersed in a plasma. The sheath capacitances obtained from impedance probe measurements were examined for application to plasma diagnoses. We compared analytical calculations of the sheath capacitance with measurements from impedance probes onboard ionospheric sounding rockets. The S-520-23 sounding rocket experiment, which was carried out in mid-latitude, demonstrated that the observed sheath capacitances agreed well with those of the calculations. We concluded that the sheath capacitance measurements allow for estimation of the electron temperature and the electron density of a Maxwellian plasma. On the other hand, the sheath capacitances obtained from the S-310-35 rocket experiment in the auroral ionosphere showed lower values than expected. Auroral particles precipitations should modify the probe potential.

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“…The applicability of this technique to measurements from space vehicles, where motion of the vehicle can be comparable to thermal ion speeds, was noticed early on 9 and has been employed over the years in a variety of ionospheric measurements. [10][11][12] Electron temperature is often determined in these cases by using an accompanying Langmuir probe. 12 With these two measurements the Debye length can be obtained and the sheath size estimated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…[10][11][12] Electron temperature is often determined in these cases by using an accompanying Langmuir probe. 12 With these two measurements the Debye length can be obtained and the sheath size estimated.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Determining electron temperature for small spherical probes from network analyzer measurements of complex impedance

et al. 2008

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In earlier work, using a network analyzer, it was shown that collisionless resistance (CR) exists in the sheath of a spherical probe when driven by a small rf signal. The CR is inversely proportional to the plasma density gradient at the location where the applied angular frequency equals the plasma frequency ωpe. Recently, efforts have concentrated on a study of the low-to-intermediate frequency response of the probe to the rf signal. At sufficiently low frequencies, the CR is beyond cutoff, i.e., below the plasma frequency at the surface of the probe. Since the electron density at the probe surface decreases as a function of applied (negative) bias, the CR will extend to lower frequencies as the magnitude of negative bias increases. Therefore to eliminate both CR and ion current contributions, the frequencies presently being considered are much greater than the ion plasma frequency, ωpi, but less than the plasma frequency, ωpe(r0), where r0 is the probe radius. It is shown that, in this frequency regime, the complex impedance measurements made with a network analyzer can be used to determine electron temperature. An overview of the theory is presented along with comparisons to data sets made using three stainless steel spherical probes of different sizes in different experimental environments and different plasma parameter regimes. The temperature measurements made by this method are compared to those made by conventional Langmuir probe sweeps; the method shown here requires no curve fitting as is the usual procedure with Langmuir probes when a Maxwell-Boltzmann electron distribution is assumed. The new method requires, however, a solution of the Poisson equation to determine the approximate sheath dimensions and integrals to determine approximate plasma and sheath inductances. The solution relies on the calculation of impedance for a spherical probe immersed in a collisionless plasma and is based on a simple circuit analogy for the plasma. Finally, the temperatures obtained using this method show reasonable agreement with those obtained using a conventional Langmuir sweep analysis of the spheres.

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Development of a fast impedance probe for absolute electron density measurements in the ionosphere

Cited by 27 publications

References 10 publications

Impedance probe technique to detect the absolute number density of electrons on-board spacecraft

Impedance probe technique to detect the absolute number density of electrons on-board spacecraft

Sheath capacitance observed by impedance probes onboard sounding rockets: Its application to ionospheric plasma diagnostics

Determining electron temperature for small spherical probes from network analyzer measurements of complex impedance

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