University of Sussex
Browse

File(s) not publicly available

Observation of Continuum radiations from the CLUSTER fleet: first results from direction finding

journal contribution
posted on 2023-06-07, 21:15 authored by P M E Decreau, C Ducoin, G Le Rouz, O Randriamboarison, J L Rauch, J G Trotignon, X Vallières, P Canu, F Darrouzet, M P Gough, A M Buckley, T D Carozzi
The Cluster fleet offers the first possibility of comparing non-thermal terrestrial continuum radiation from similarly equipped nearby observation points. A very rich data set has already been acquired on the Cluster polar orbit, between 4 and 19 Earth radii geocentric distances, and preliminary analysis has been carried out on these emissions. We focus in this paper on direction finding performed from all four spacecraft as a means to locate the position of the sources of this continuum radiation. Directions are derived from spin modulation properties, under the usual analysis assumptions of the wave vector of the radiation lying in the plane containing the spin axis and the antenna position at electric field minimum. All the spin axes of the four Cluster spacecraft are aligned perpendicular to the ecliptic, thus the aligned spacecraft antenna spin planes provide redundant 2-D views of the propagation path of the radiation and source location. Convincing 2-D triangulation results have been obtained in the vicinity of the source region. In addition, the out of spin plane component of the wave vector reveals itself to a certain extent through directivity characteristics compared at different distances of the spin plane to the ecliptic. The four case events studied (two of them taken near apogee, the other two near perigee) have confirmed general properties derived from previous observations: trapping in the lower frequency range, radiation escaping into the magnetosheath region in the higher frequency range. All propagation directions are compatible with source positions in the plasmapause region, however, at a significant distance from the equator in one case. Our observations have also revealed new properties, like the importance of small-scale density irregularities in the local amplification of continuum radiation. We conclude that more detailed generation and propagation models are needed to fit the observations.

History

Publication status

  • Published

Journal

Annales Geophysicae

ISSN

0992-7689

Issue

7

Volume

22

Page range

2607-2624

Pages

18.0

Department affiliated with

  • Engineering and Design Publications

Notes

This paper investigates the performance of radio wave remote sensing using antennae on spinning spacecraft. This is the first time this particular approach has been technically feasible due to using identically instrumented multiple spacecraft. It has applicability to remote sensing engineering using multiple spacecraft. Applications areas include forthcoming missions for the detection of extra-solar planets (e.g. ESA DARWIN mission, launch 2015 , NASA NAVIGATOR programme). The integration and testing of the ESA CLUSTER spacecraft wave instruments used in this research took place in the Engineering laboratories at the University. This work was supported by PPARC research grant PPA/G/S/1999/00466.

Full text available

  • No

Peer reviewed?

  • Yes

Legacy Posted Date

2012-02-06

Usage metrics

    University of Sussex (Publications)

    Categories

    No categories selected

    Exports

    RefWorks
    BibTeX
    Ref. manager
    Endnote
    DataCite
    NLM
    DC