Wavelet-Adaptive Interference Cancellation for Underdetermined Platforms: Enhancing Boomless Magnetic Field Measurements on Compact Spacecraft

Abstract

Spacecraft magnetic field measurements are frequently degraded by stray magnetic fields originating from onboard electrical systems. These interference signals can mask the natural ambient magnetic field, reducing the quality of scientific data collected. Traditional approaches involve positioning magnetometers on mechanical booms to minimize the influence of the spacecraft's stray magnetic fields. However, this method is impractical for resource-constrained platforms, such as CubeSats, which necessitate compact and cost-effective designs. In this work, we introduce an interference removal technique called Wavelet-Adaptive Interference Cancellation for Underdetermined Platforms (WAIC-UP). This method effectively eliminates stray magnetic field signals using multiple magnetometers, without requiring prior knowledge of the spectral content, location, or magnitude of the interference signals. WAIC-UP capitalizes on the distinct spectral properties of various interference signals and employs an analytical method to separate them from ambient magnetic field in the wavelet domain. We validate the efficacy of WAIC-UP through a statistical simulation of randomized 1U CubeSat interference configurations, as well as with real-world magnetic field signals generated by copper coils. Our findings demonstrate that WAIC-UP consistently retrieves the ambient magnetic field under various interference conditions and does so with orders of magnitude less computational time compared to other modern noise removal algorithms. By facilitating high-quality magnetic field measurements on boomless platforms, WAIC-UP presents new opportunities for small-satellite-based space science missions.

The Vigil Magnetometer for Operational Space Weather Services From the Sun‐Earth L5 Point

“…The appropriate technical solution to meet the measurement requirements is therefore to place two sensors on a boom, at different distances from the spacecraft. This provides redundancy, but also the opportunity to perform gradiometry to characterize any magnetic field signatures generated by the spacecraft, should they be detectable (e.g., Georgescu et al, 2008;Ream et al, 2021), as well as more advanced signal processing techniques (e.g., Hoffmann & Moldwin, 2023). This solution has the highest heritage, being the implementation of choice on the vast majority of missions with measurement requirements comparable to those of Vigil.…”