{"title":"Laboratory measurements of the performances of the Sweeping Langmuir Probe instrument aboard the PICASSO CubeSat","authors":"S. Ranvier, J. Lebreton","doi":"10.5194/gi-12-1-2023","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Abstract. The Sweeping Langmuir Probe (SLP) is one of the\ninstruments on board the triple-unit CubeSat PICASSO, an ESA in-orbit\ndemonstrator launched in September 2020, which is flying at about 540 km\naltitude. SLP comprises four small cylindrical probes mounted at the tip of the\nsolar panels. It aims to perform in situ measurements of the plasma\nparameters (electron density and temperature together with ion density) and\nof the spacecraft potential in the ionosphere. Before the launch, the\ninstrument, accommodated on an electrically representative PICASSO mock-up,\nwas tested in a plasma chamber. It is shown that the traditional\norbital-motion-limited collection theory used for cylindrical Langmuir\nprobes cannot be applied directly for the interpretation of the measurements\nbecause of the limited dimensions of the probes with respect to the Debye\nlength in the ionosphere. Nevertheless, this method can be adapted to take\ninto account the short length of the probes. To reduce the data downlink\nwhile keeping the most important information in the current-voltage\ncharacteristics, SLP includes an on-board adaptive sweeping capability. This\nfunctionality has been validated in both the plasma chamber and in space, and\nit is demonstrated that with a reduced number of data points the electron\nretardation and electron saturation regions can be well resolved. Finally,\nthe effect of the contamination of the probe surface, which can be a serious\nissue in Langmuir probe data analysis, has been investigated. If not\naccounted for properly, this effect could lead to substantial errors in the\nestimation of the electron temperature.\n","PeriodicalId":48742,"journal":{"name":"Geoscientific Instrumentation Methods and Data Systems","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.8000,"publicationDate":"2023-01-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Geoscientific Instrumentation Methods and Data Systems","FirstCategoryId":"89","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-12-1-2023","RegionNum":4,"RegionCategory":"地球科学","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Abstract. The Sweeping Langmuir Probe (SLP) is one of the
instruments on board the triple-unit CubeSat PICASSO, an ESA in-orbit
demonstrator launched in September 2020, which is flying at about 540 km
altitude. SLP comprises four small cylindrical probes mounted at the tip of the
solar panels. It aims to perform in situ measurements of the plasma
parameters (electron density and temperature together with ion density) and
of the spacecraft potential in the ionosphere. Before the launch, the
instrument, accommodated on an electrically representative PICASSO mock-up,
was tested in a plasma chamber. It is shown that the traditional
orbital-motion-limited collection theory used for cylindrical Langmuir
probes cannot be applied directly for the interpretation of the measurements
because of the limited dimensions of the probes with respect to the Debye
length in the ionosphere. Nevertheless, this method can be adapted to take
into account the short length of the probes. To reduce the data downlink
while keeping the most important information in the current-voltage
characteristics, SLP includes an on-board adaptive sweeping capability. This
functionality has been validated in both the plasma chamber and in space, and
it is demonstrated that with a reduced number of data points the electron
retardation and electron saturation regions can be well resolved. Finally,
the effect of the contamination of the probe surface, which can be a serious
issue in Langmuir probe data analysis, has been investigated. If not
accounted for properly, this effect could lead to substantial errors in the
estimation of the electron temperature.
期刊介绍:
Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems (GI) is an open-access interdisciplinary electronic journal for swift publication of original articles and short communications in the area of geoscientific instruments. It covers three main areas: (i) atmospheric and geospace sciences, (ii) earth science, and (iii) ocean science. A unique feature of the journal is the emphasis on synergy between science and technology that facilitates advances in GI. These advances include but are not limited to the following:
concepts, design, and description of instrumentation and data systems;
retrieval techniques of scientific products from measurements;
calibration and data quality assessment;
uncertainty in measurements;
newly developed and planned research platforms and community instrumentation capabilities;
major national and international field campaigns and observational research programs;
new observational strategies to address societal needs in areas such as monitoring climate change and preventing natural disasters;
networking of instruments for enhancing high temporal and spatial resolution of observations.
GI has an innovative two-stage publication process involving the scientific discussion forum Geoscientific Instrumentation, Methods and Data Systems Discussions (GID), which has been designed to do the following:
foster scientific discussion;
maximize the effectiveness and transparency of scientific quality assurance;
enable rapid publication;
make scientific publications freely accessible.