&lt;title&gt;Low-weight plasma instrument to be used in the inner heliosphere&lt;/title&gt;

Zurbuchen, T. H.; Gloeckler, G.; Cain, J.; Lasley, S. E.; Shanks, Wayne C.

doi:10.1117/12.330260

Cited by 16 publications

(19 citation statements)

References 8 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This is even more pronounced for a spacecraft like MESSENGER due to the limited field of view of its plasma instrument, the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS; Zurbuchen et al 1998;Andrews et al 2007), especially in directions transverse to the Mercury-Sun line which limits observations of the solar wind plasma when MESSENGER is outside Mercury's magnetosphere (e.g. Zurbuchen et al 2008; Raines et al 2011).…”

Section: <3mentioning

confidence: 99%

A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury’s magnetosphere

Fatemi

Poirier

Holmström

et al. 2018

A&A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Aims. The lack of an upstream solar wind plasma monitor when a spacecraft is inside the highly dynamic magnetosphere of Mercury limits interpretations of observed magnetospheric phenomena and their correlations with upstream solar wind variations. Methods. We used AMITIS, a three-dimensional GPU-based hybrid model of plasma (particle ions and fluid electrons) to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure and Alfvén Mach number upstream of Mercury by comparing our simulation results with MESSENGER magnetic field observations inside the magnetosphere of Mercury. We selected a few orbits of MESSENGER that have been analysed and compared with hybrid simulations before. Then we ran a number of simulations for each orbit (∼30-50 runs) and examined the effects of the upstream solar wind plasma variations on the magnetic fields observed along the trajectory of MESSENGER to find the best agreement between our simulations and observations. Results. We show that, on average, the solar wind dynamic pressure for the selected orbits is slightly lower than the typical estimated dynamic pressure near the orbit of Mercury. However, we show that there is a good agreement between our hybrid simulation results and MESSENGER observations for our estimated solar wind parameters. We also compare the solar wind dynamic pressure inferred from our model with those predicted previously by the WSA-ENLIL model upstream of Mercury, and discuss the agreements and disagreements between the two model predictions. We show that the magnetosphere of Mercury is highly dynamic and controlled by the solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field. In addition, in agreement with previous observations, our simulations show that there are quasi-trapped particles and a partial ring current-like structure in the nightside magnetosphere of Mercury, more evident during a northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). We also use our simulations to examine the correlation between the solar wind dynamic pressure and stand-off distance of the magnetopause and compare it with MESSENGER observations. We show that our model results are in good agreement with the response of the magnetopause to the solar wind dynamic pressure, even during extreme solar events. We also show that our model can be used as a virtual solar wind monitor near the orbit of Mercury and this has important implications for interpretation of observations by MESSENGER and the future ESA/JAXA mission to Mercury, BepiColombo.

show abstract

Section: <3mentioning

confidence: 99%

A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury’s magnetosphere

Fatemi

Poirier

Holmström

et al. 2018

A&A

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…4, this is also a slight function of angle, but is still very flat overall. This flatness represents a significant change from the Zurbuchen et al (1998) design, where the analyzer constant was strongly dependent on the particle angle ofincidence. This is a major improvement in design , as measurements of energy spectra are now independent of time-of-flight and position measurements .…”

Section: Electrostatic Analyzer Simulationmentioning

confidence: 97%

“…The FIPS ESA was first described by Zurbuchen et al (1998). It was a simple cylindrical mirror system with a perforated entrance dome and an array of field control rings.…”

Section: Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The position derived from this process determines the velocity direction Vff The "stop" signal is determined from a second MCP assembly that detects the ion. The "start" and "stop" signals define the time-of-flight t: This time-of-flight, E/q and the position information then determine V and mass per charge m/q (Zurbuchen et al, 1998). A similar principle of operation was used in conjunction with a solid-state detector (SSD) as an independent energy measurement, allowing the additional calculation of the particle's mass (Gloeckler and Hsieh, 1979;Gloeckler, 1990) instrument has no SSD, and so only measured the incident particle's mass per charge.…”

Section: Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…COmIn., 1994) followed by a fuller description ofthe instrument and calculations of its response (Zurbuchen et al, 1998). The current FIPS ESA was developed from that idea through a number ofsimulation iterations, and we now have constructed a working prototype.…”

Section: Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer Overviewmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Measuring the plasma environment at Mercury: The fast imaging plasma spectrometer

Koehn

Zurbuchen

Gloeckler

et al. 2002

Meteorit & Planetary Scien

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract-The plasma environment at Mercury is a rich laboratory for studying the interaction ofthe solar wind with a planet. Three primary populations of ions exist at Mercury: solar wind, magnetospheric, and pickup ions. These pickup ions are generated through the ionization ofMercury's exosphere or are sputtered particles from the Mercury surface. A comprehensive mission to Mercury, such as MESSENGER (MErcury: Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, Ranging), should include a sensor that is able to determine the dynamical properties and composition of all these plasma components. An instrument to measure the composition of these ion populations and their three-dimensional velocity distribution functions must be lightweight, fast, and have a very large field of view.The fast imaging plasma spectrometer (FIPS) is an imaging mass spectrometer, part of NASA's MESSENGER mission, the first Mercury orbiter. This versatile instrument has a very small footprint, and has a mass that is ' """' 1 order of magnitude less than other comparable systems. It maintains a nearly full-hemisphere field of view, suitable for either spinning or three-axis-stabilized platforms, The major piece of innovation to enable this sensor is a new deflection system geometry that enables a large instantaneous (' """' 1.5n) field ofview. This novel electrostatic analyzer system is then combined with a position sensitive time-of-flight system. We discuss the design and prototype tests ofthe FIPS deflection system and show how this system is expected to address one key problem in Mercury science, that of the nature of the radar-bright regions at the Hennean poles.

show abstract

Structure and dynamics of Mercury's magnetospheric cusp: MESSENGER measurements of protons and planetary ions

et al. 2014

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry, and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft has observed the northern magnetospheric cusp of Mercury regularly since the probe was inserted into orbit about the innermost planet in March 2011. Observations from the Fast Imaging Plasma Spectrometer (FIPS) made at altitudes < 400 km in the planet's cusp have shown average proton densities (>10 cm À3 ) that are exceeded only by those observed in the magnetosheath. These high plasma densities are also associated with strong diamagnetic depressions observed by MESSENGER's Magnetometer. Plasma in the cusp may originate from several sources: (1) Direct inflow from the magnetosheath, (2) locally produced planetary photoions and ions sputtered off the surface from solar wind impact and then accelerated upward, and (3) flow of magnetosheath and magnetospheric plasma accelerated from dayside reconnection X-lines. We surveyed 518 cusp passes by MESSENGER, focusing on the spatial distribution, energy spectra, and pitch-angle distributions of protons and Na + -group ions. Of those, we selected 77 cusp passes during which substantial Na + -group ion populations were present for a more detailed analysis. We find that Mercury's cusp is a highly dynamic region, both in spatial extent and plasma composition and energies. From the three-dimensional plasma distributions observed by FIPS, protons with mean energies of 1 keV were found flowing down into the cusp (i.e., source (1) above). The distribution of pitch angles of these protons showed a depletion in the direction away from the surface, indicating that ions within 40°of the magnetic field direction are in the loss cone, lost to the surface rather than being reflected by the magnetic field. In contrast, Na + -group ions show two distinct behaviors depending on their energy. Low-energy (100-300 eV) ions appear to be streaming out of the cusp, showing pitch-angle distributions with a strong component antiparallel to the magnetic field (away from the surface). These ions appear to have been generated in the cusp and accelerated locally (i.e., source (2) above). Higher-energy (≥1 keV) Na + -group ions in the cusp exhibit much larger perpendicular components in their energy distributions. During active times, as judged by frequent, large-amplitude magnetic field fluctuations, many more Na + -group ions are measured at latitudes south of the cusp. In several cases, these Na + -group ions in the dayside magnetosphere are flowing northward toward the cusp. The high mean energy, pitch-angle distributions, and large number of Na + -group ions on dayside magnetospheric field lines are inconsistent with direct transport into the cusp of sputtered ions from the surface or newly photoionized particles. Furthermore, the highest densities and mean energies often occur together with high-amplitude magnetic fluctuations, attributed to flux transfer events along the magnetopause. These results indicate that high-energy Na + -group ions in the cusp are likely formed by ionization of escaping ne...

show abstract

<title>Low-weight plasma instrument to be used in the inner heliosphere</title>

Cited by 16 publications

References 8 publications

A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury’s magnetosphere

A modelling approach to infer the solar wind dynamic pressure from magnetic field observations inside Mercury’s magnetosphere

Measuring the plasma environment at Mercury: The fast imaging plasma spectrometer

Structure and dynamics of Mercury's magnetospheric cusp: MESSENGER measurements of protons and planetary ions

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About