The design of the Langmuir probe onboard a seismo-electromagnetic satellite

Abstract

The double Langmuir probe, as a payload of a seism-electromagnetic satellite, has been designed for in situ measurements of the parameters of the ionosphere plasma on the 500km altitude orbit to research the electromagnetic coupling between the solid-earth activities and the ionosphere disturbances. The Langmuir probe is comprised of two spherical sensors: the diameter of the smaller one is 1cm and the other one is 5cm. The two sensors are mounted on two parallel booms on the satellite, which are half meter far from each other. The two main ionosphere parameters measured by the Langmuir probe are electron density and electron temperature, which are computed from the I-V curves. The I-V curve is given by a current flow through a sensor in case of a sweep voltage is applied to the sensor. There are three main work modes for the Langmuir probe: the normal mode, the burst mode and the decontamination mode. The normal mode is for the general measurement of the ionosphere parameters around the globe with 1s time resolution, while the burst mode is to measure the ionosphere over the interested areas, like the areas with more earthquake activities, with 0.5s time resolution. The decontamination mode would work if the I-V curves shown hysteresis phenomenon, which indicated that the sensors may be contaminated by the outgassing of the satellite. The description of the Langmuir probe instrument and its capabilities are provided.

Post-midnight irregularities in equator and its adjacent regions of topside ionosphere obtained by the CSES satellite

“…Therefore, the accuracy of Ne depends on the accuracy of, I e0 (Wang et al, 2019a). The relative accuracy is less than 10% when Ne is in the measurement range of 5×10 2 to 1×10 7 / cm 3 according to the LAP designer (Guan et al, 2011). Therefore, Ne must be in the measurement range to keep its relative accuracy.…”

The Comparison of Electron Density between CSES In Situ and Ground-Based Observations in China

“…Sensor 1 is a larger one with a diameter of 5 cm, and the diameter of sensor 2 is 1 cm, designed as a backup. There is a long stub 50 cm in length for each sensor to reduce the interference from the satellite surface [18]. The data we used in this study were observed by sensor 1.…”