Calibration and First-Light of the Energetic Particle Detectors on UCLA's Electron Losses and Fields Investigation (ELFIN) CubeSats
Abstract
UCLA's Electron Losses and Fields Investigation (ELFIN) mission is a duo of 3U+ CubeSats launching in September of 2018. The ELFIN satellites are designed to study Space Weather in-situ with the primary aim of addressing whether Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) waves are the dominant wave-particle scattering mechanism driving energetic electron precipitation from Earth's Radiation Belts. ELFIN's secondary objective is to gain insight into the nature of field-aligned currents thought to originate in Earth's Plasma Sheet. The ELFIN satellites will observe these phenomena from the vantage point of polar Low-Earth Orbit, both spinning in a plane containing the local magnetic field and slowly drifting in orbit phase to provide spatio-temporal information at various scales.
Each satellite is equipped with a custom-designed Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) built at UCLA to measure the pitch-angle resolved fluxes of energetic electrons from 50 keV to >4 MeV, and ions from 50 keV to >300 keV. Each EPD makes use of stacked silicon detector arrays and pulse-height analysis to determine the energies of incident electrons and ions. The EPDs and their electronics fit into a 1U volume. The EPDs are also each supported by a Fluxgate Magnetometer (FGM) to resolve the local instantaneous spacecraft pitch-angle and magnetic waves at frequencies up to 5 Hz. The ELFIN particle detectors have recently undergone calibration utilizing radioactive isotopes to verify and characterize their performance. The instrument design is reviewed, followed by a presentation of calibration and test methodology, including use of the specific isotopes Am-241 and Ru-106 to produce known reference energy spectra in the form of alpha, beta, and gamma particle emissions. The quantified instrument performance is stated alongside a discussion of lessons learned. By the time of the Fall Meeting the ELFIN satellites will have been commissioned and observed first-light. Selected preliminary EPD data will be presented, and potential applications to magnetospheric and ionospheric studies are addressed.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2018
- Bibcode:
- 2018AGUFMSH41D3668W
- Keywords:
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- 6094 Instruments and techniques;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: COMETS AND SMALL BODIESDE: 6297 Instruments and techniques;
- PLANETARY SCIENCES: SOLAR SYSTEM OBJECTSDE: 7594 Instruments and techniques;
- SOLAR PHYSICS;
- ASTROPHYSICS;
- AND ASTRONOMYDE: 7894 Instruments and techniques;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS