Articles | Volume 17, issue 12
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-999-1513-3
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.1007/s00585-999-1513-3
31 Dec 1999
31 Dec 1999

EDI electron time-of-flight measurements on Equator-S

G. Paschmann, N. Sckopke, H. Vaith, J. M. Quinn, O. H. Bauer, W. Baumjohann, W. Fillius, G. Haerendel, S. S. Kerr, C. A. Kletzing, K. Lynch, C. E. McIlwain, R. B. Torbert, and E. C. Whipple

Abstract. We present the first electron time-of-flight measurements obtained with the Electron Drift Instrument (EDI) on Equator-S. These measurements are made possible by amplitude-modulation and coding of the emitted electron beams and correlation with the signal from the returning electrons. The purpose of the time-of-flight measurements is twofold. First, they provide the drift velocity, and thus the electric field, when the distance the electrons drift in a gyro period becomes sufficiently large. Second, they provide the gyro time of the electrons emitted by the instrument, and thus the magnitude of the ambient magnetic field, allowing in-flight calibration of the flux-gate magnetometer with high precision. Results of both applications are discussed.

Key words. Magnetospheric physics (electric fields; plasma convection; instruments and techniques)

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