Engineering topics

Larsen, B. A.

Publications and source records attributed to Larsen, B. A..

4 records

DOE OSTI2021

Observations of Density Cavities and Associated Warm Ion Flux Enhancements in the Inner Magnetosphere

We present a statistical study of density cavities observed in the inner magnetosphere by the Van Allen Probes during four one-month periods: February 2013, July 2013, January 2014, and June 2014. These periods were chosen to allow the survey of all magnetic local times. We find that density cavities are a recurrent feature of the density profiles of in situ measurements in the inner magnetosphere. We further investigate the correlation between the density cavities and the enhancement of fluxes of warm ions with energies of 10–100 eV. The results show that warm ion flux enhancements associated with the density cavities were observed more frequently for H + , then for He + and the least frequently for O + . The occurrences of the associated flux enhancements were increased when considering only the cavities inside the plasmasphere. Possible mechanisms responsible for the observed warm ion flux enhancements and the role of density cavities on these ion flux enhancements are discussed.

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS↗

DOE OSTI2020

The FIREBIRD-II CubeSat Mission (Focused Investigations of Relativistic Electron Burst Intensity, Range, and Dynamics)

FIREBIRD-II is a National Science Foundation funded CubeSat mission designed to study the scale size and energy spectrum of relativistic electron microbursts. The mission consists of two identical 1.5 U CubeSats in a low earth polar orbit, each with two solid state detectors that differ only in the size of their geometric factors and fields of view. Having two spacecraft in close orbit allows the scale size of microbursts to be investigated through the intra-spacecraft separation when microbursts are observed simultaneously on each unit. Each detector returns high cadence (10 s of ms) measurements of the electron population from 200 keV to >1 MeV across six energy channels. The energy channels were selected to fill a gap in the observations of the Heavy Ion Large Telescope instrument on the Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer. FIREBIRD-II has been in orbit for 5 years and continues to return high quality data. After the first month in orbit, the spacecraft had separated beyond the expected scale size of microbursts, so the focus has shifted toward conjunctions with other magnetospheric missions. FIREBIRD-II has addressed all of its primary science objectives, and its long lifetime and focus on conjunctions has enabled additional science beyond the scope of the original mission. This paper presents a brief history of the FIREBIRD mission’s science goals, followed by a description of the instrument and spacecraft. The data products are then discussed along with some caveats necessary for proper use of the data.

47 OTHER INSTRUMENTATION↗

NASA NTRS2018

Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP): A New NASA Mission

The Interstellar Mapping and Acceleration Probe (IMAP) is a revolutionary mission that simultaneously investigates two of the most important overarching issues in Heliophysics today: the acceleration of energetic particles and interaction of the solar wind with the local interstellar medium. While seemingly disparate, these are intimately coupled because particles accelerated in the inner heliosphere play critical roles in the outer heliospheric interaction. Selected by NASA in 2018, IMAP is planned to launch in 2024. The IMAP spacecraft is a simple sun-pointed spinner in orbit about the Sun-Earth L1 point. IMAP's ten instruments provide a complete and synergistic set of observations to simultaneously dissect the particle injection and acceleration processes at 1 AU while remotely probing the global heliospheric interaction and its response to particle populations generated by these processes. In situ at 1 AU, IMAP provides detailed observations of solar wind electrons and ions; suprathermal, pickup, and energetic ions; and the interplanetary magnetic field. For the outer heliosphere interaction, IMAP provides advanced global observations of the remote plasma and energetic ions over a broad energy range via energetic neutral atom imaging, and precise observations of interstellar neutral atoms penetrating the heliosphere. Complementary observations of interstellar dust and the ultraviolet glow of interstellar neutrals further deepen the physical understanding from IMAP. IMAP also continuously broadcasts vital real-time space weather observations. Finally, IMAP engages the broader Heliophysics community through a variety of innovative opportunities. This papersummarizes the IMAP mission at the start of Phase A development.

McComas, D. J.↗

NASA NTRS2016

Van Allen Probes Observations of Magnetic Field Dipolarization and Its Associated O+ Flux Variations in the Inner Magnetosphere at L 6.6

We investigate the magnetic field dipolarization in the inner magnetosphere and its associated ion flux variations, using the magnetic field and energetic ion flux data acquired by the Van Allen Probes. From a study of 74 events that appeared at L= 4.5-6.6 between 1 October 2012 and 31 October 2013, we reveal the following characteristics of the dipolarization in the inner magnetosphere: (1) its time scale is approximately 5 min; (2) it is accompanied by strong magnetic fluctuations that have a dominant frequency close to the O+ gyrofrequency; (3) ion fluxes at 20-50 keV are simultaneously enhanced with larger magnitudes for O+ than for H+; (4) after a few minutes of the dipolarization, the flux enhancement at 0.1-5 keV appears with a clear energy-dispersion signature only for O+; and (5) the energy-dispersed O+ flux enhancement appears in directions parallel or antiparallel to the magnetic field. From these characteristics, we discuss possible mechanisms that can provide selective acceleration to O+ ions at > 20 keV. We conclude that O+ ions at L= 5.4-6.6 undergo nonadiabatic local acceleration caused by oscillating electric field associated with the magnetic fluctuations and/or adiabatic convective transport from the plasma sheet to the inner magnetosphere by the impulsive electric field. At L= 4.5-5.4, however, only the former acceleration is plausible. We also conclude that the field-aligned energy-dispersed O+ ions at 0.1-5 keV originate from the ionosphere and are extracted nearly simultaneously to the onset of the dipolarization.

Magnetosphere↗