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Ann. Geophys., 22, 115-123, 2004
www.ann-geophys.net/22/115/2004/
© European Geosciences Union 2004
EMMA - the Electric and Magnetic Monitor of the Aurora on Astrid-2
L. G. Blomberg1, G. T. Marklund1, P.-A. Lindqvist1, F. Primdahl2,3, P. Brauer2, L. Bylander1, J. A. Cumnock1,4, S. Eriksson1,5, N. Ivchenko1, T. Karlsson1, A. Kullen1, J. M. G. Merayo2, E. B. Pedersen6,7, and J. R. Petersen2,3
1Alfvén Laboratory, Royal Institute of Technology, Stockholm, Sweden
2Ørsted DTU, Technical University of Denmark, Lyngby, Denmark
3Danish Space Research Institute, Copenhagen, Denmark
4Also at University of Texas at Dallas, Richardson, TX, USA
5Now at University of Colorado, Boulder, CO, USA
6TERMA Electronics AS, Lystrup, Denmark
7Now at Ericsson Telebit A/S, Viby J., Denmark
Abstract. The Astrid-2 mission has dual primary objectives. First, it is an orbiting
instrument platform for studying auroral electrodynamics. Second, it is a technology
demonstration of the feasibility of using micro-satellites for innovative space plasma
physics research. The EMMA instrument, which we discuss in the present paper, is
designed to provide simultaneous sampling of two electric and three magnetic field
components up to about 1kHz. The spin plane components of the electric field are
measured by two pairs of opposing probes extended by wire booms with a separation
distance of 6.7m. The probes have titanium nitride (TiN) surfaces, which has proved to
be a material with excellent properties for providing good electrical contact between
probe and plasma. The wire booms are of a new design in which the booms in the stowed
position are wound around the exterior of the spacecraft body. The boom system was
flown for the first time on this mission and worked flawlessly. The magnetic field is
measured by a tri-axial fluxgate sensor located at the tip of a rigid, hinged boom extended
along the spacecraft spin axis and facing away from the Sun. The new advanced-design
fluxgate magnetometer uses digital signal processors for detection and feedback, thereby
reducing the analogue circuitry to a minimum. The instrument characteristics as well as a
brief review of the science accomplished and planned are presented.
Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere). Magnetospheric
physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions).
Space plasma physics (instruments and techniques)
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