How Operational Oceanography Can Benefit from Dynamic Topography Estimates as Derived from Altimetry and Improved Geoid

With a precise geoid, GOCE will allow an estimation of absolute dynamic topography from altimetry. The projected benefits to operational oceanography and its applications are analyzed herein. After a brief overview of operational oceanography, we explain how the new geoids will be used in the future to improve real time altimeter products and to better constrain modelling and data assimilation systems. A significant impact is expected both for mesoscale (e.g. better estimations and forecasts of currents for pollution monitoring, marine safety, offshore industry) and climate (better initialization of coupled ocean/atmosphere models) applications. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Space weather: its effects and predictability

Terrestrial technology is now, and increasingly, sensitive to space weather. Most space weather is caused by solar storms and the resulting changes to the Earth's radiation environment and the magnetosphere. The Sun as the driver of space weather is under intense observation but remains to be adequately modelled. Recent spacecraft measurements are greatly improving models of solar activity, the interaction of the solar wind with the magnetosphere, and models of the radiation belts. In-situ data updates the basic magnetospheric model to provide specific details of high-energy electron flux at satellite orbits. Shock wave effects at the magnetopause can also be coarsely predicted. However, the specific geomagnetic effects at ground level depend on the calculation of magnetic and electric fields and further improvements are needed. New work on physical models is showing promise of raising geomagnetic and ionospheric predictability above the synoptic climatological level. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

The Genesis Solar-Wind Collector Materials

Genesis (NASA Discovery Mission #5) is a sample return mission. Collectors comprised of ultra-high purity materials will be exposed to the solar wind and then returned to Earth for laboratory analysis. There is a suite of fifteen types of ultra-pure materials distributed among several locations. Most of the materials are mounted on deployable panels (‘collector arrays’), with some as targets in the focal spot of an electrostatic mirror (the ‘concentrator’). Other materials are strategically placed on the spacecraft as additional targets of opportunity to maximize the area for solar-wind collection. Most of the collection area consists of hexagonal collectors in the arrays; approximately half are silicon, the rest are for solar-wind components not retained and/or not easily measured in silicon. There are a variety of materials both in collector arrays and elsewhere targeted for the analyses of specific solar-wind components. Engineering and science factors drove the selection process. Engineering required testing of physical properties such as the ability to withstand shaking on launch and thermal cycling during deployment. Science constraints included bulk purity, surface and interface cleanliness, retentiveness with respect to individual solar-wind components, and availability. A detailed report of material parameters planned as a resource for choosing materials for study will be published on a Genesis website, and will be updated as additional information is obtained. Some material is already linked to the Genesis plasma data website (genesis.lanl.gov). Genesis should provide a reservoir of materials for allocation to the scientific community throughout the 21st Century. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Imaging Plasma Density Structures in the Soft X-Rays Generated by Solar Wind Charge Exchange with Neutrals

Both heliophysics and planetary physics seek to understand the complex nature of the solar wind’s interaction with solar system obstacles like Earth’s magnetosphere, the ionospheres of Venus and Mars, and comets. Studies with this objective are frequently conducted with the help of single or multipoint in situ electromagnetic field and particle observations, guided by the predictions of both local and global numerical simulations, and placed in context by observations from far and extreme ultraviolet (FUV, EUV), hard X-ray, and energetic neutral atom imagers (ENA). Each proposed interaction mechanism (e.g., steady or transient magnetic reconnection, local or global magnetic reconnection, ion pick-up, or the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability) generates diagnostic plasma density structures. The significance of each mechanism to the overall interaction (as measured in terms of atmospheric/ionospheric loss at comets, Venus, and Mars or global magnetospheric/ionospheric convection at Earth) remains to be determined but can be evaluated on the basis of how often the density signatures that it generates are observed as a function of solar wind conditions. This paper reviews efforts to image the diagnostic plasma density structures in the soft (low energy, 0.1–2.0 keV) X-rays produced when high charge state solar wind ions exchange electrons with the exospheric neutrals surrounding solar system obstacles.The introduction notes that theory, local, and global simulations predict the characteristics of plasma boundaries such the bow shock and magnetopause (including location, density gradient, and motion) and regions such as the magnetosheath (including density and width) as a function of location, solar wind conditions, and the particular mechanism operating. In situ measurements confirm the existence of time- and spatial-dependent plasma density structures like the bow shock, magnetosheath, and magnetopause/ionopause at Venus, Mars, comets, and the Earth. However, in situ measurements rarely suffice to determine the global extent of these density structures or their global variation as a function of solar wind conditions, except in the form of empirical studies based on observations from many different times and solar wind conditions. Remote sensing observations provide global information about auroral ovals (FUV and hard X-ray), the terrestrial plasmasphere (EUV), and the terrestrial ring current (ENA). ENA instruments with low energy thresholds (\(\sim1~\mbox{keV}\)) have recently been used to obtain important information concerning the magnetosheaths of Venus, Mars, and the Earth. Recent technological developments make these magnetosheaths valuable potential targets for high-cadence wide-field-of-view soft X-ray imagers.Section 2 describes proposed dayside interaction mechanisms, including reconnection, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability, and other processes in greater detail with an emphasis on the plasma density structures that they generate. It focuses upon the questions that remain as yet unanswered, such as the significance of each proposed interaction mode, which can be determined from its occurrence pattern as a function of location and solar wind conditions. Section 3 outlines the physics underlying the charge exchange generation of soft X-rays. Section 4 lists the background sources (helium focusing cone, planetary, and cosmic) of soft X-rays from which the charge exchange emissions generated by solar wind exchange must be distinguished. With the help of simulations employing state-of-the-art magnetohydrodynamic models for the solar wind-magnetosphere interaction, models for Earth’s exosphere, and knowledge concerning these background emissions, Sect. 5 demonstrates that boundaries and regions such as the bow shock, magnetosheath, magnetopause, and cusps can readily be identified in images of charge exchange emissions. Section 6 reviews observations by (generally narrow) field of view (FOV) astrophysical telescopes that confirm the presence of these emissions at the intensities predicted by the simulations. Section 7 describes the design of a notional wide FOV “lobster-eye” telescope capable of imaging the global interactions and shows how it might be used to extract information concerning the global interaction of the solar wind with solar system obstacles. The conclusion outlines prospects for missions employing such wide FOV imagers.     

ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) Science Ground Segment (SGS)

The ExoMars Trace Gas Orbiter (TGO) Science Ground Segment (SGS), comprised of payload Instrument Team, ESA and Russian operational centres, is responsible for planning the science operations of the TGO mission and for the generation and archiving of the scientific data products to levels meeting the scientific aims and criteria specified by the ESA Project Scientist as advised by the Science Working Team (SWT). The ExoMars SGS builds extensively upon tools and experience acquired through earlier ESA planetary missions like Mars and Venus Express, and Rosetta, but also is breaking ground in various respects toward the science operations of future missions like BepiColombo or JUICE. A productive interaction with the Russian partners in the mission facilitates broad and effective collaboration. This paper describes the global organisation and operation of the SGS, with reference to its principal systems, interfaces and operational processes.     

Past,Present and Future of Active Radio Frequency Experiments in Space

Active ionospheric experiments using high-power, high-frequency transmitters, “heaters”, to study plasma processes in the ionosphere and magnetosphere continue to provide new insights into understanding plasma and geophysical proceses. This review describes the heating facilities, past and present, and discusses scientific results from these facilities and associated space missions. Phenomena that have been observed with these facilities are reviewed along with theoretical explanations that have been proposed or are commonly accepted. Gaps or uncertainties in understanding of heating-initiated phenomena are discussed together with proposed science questions to be addressed in the future. Suggestions for improvements and additions to existing facilities are presented including important satellite missions which are necessary to answer the outstanding questions in this field.     

Overlapping search with scanned beam applications

Acquisition and false acquisition probabilities are derived for search including overlap between observation regions. (Gap-free search, important in many applications, frequently involves overlap.) Search patterns are included, together with system parameters and observation sequences minimizing search time. Design curves applicable to laser, radar, sonar, and other methods are used in practical examples. These examples, accounting for beam shape and receiver characteristics, show that the small overlap in these patterns compensates for beam edge effects     

Effect of wall suction on leading edge contamination

This paper is devoted to an experimental study of swept wing leading edge contamination by the turbulence emanating from the wing-wall junction. The main objective is to delay the contamination onset by applying surface suction along the attachment line. Two series of experiments are described; the first one was performed in a small wind tunnel at CERT ONERA, the second one was carried out in the F2 wind tunnel at Le Fauga Mauzac centre. Hot film measurements showed that leading edge contamination could be delayed up to very large Reynolds numbers. We also studied the behaviour of the relaminarized boundary layer downstream of the sucked region, along the span as well as in the chordwise direction.     

Solar Wind Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM) for the Advanced Composition Explorer

The Solar Wind Electron Proton Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM) experiment provides the bulk solar wind observations for the Advanced Composition Explorer (ACE). These observations provide the context for elemental and isotopic composition measurements made on ACE as well as allowing the direct examination of numerous solar wind phenomena such as coronal mass ejections, interplanetary shocks, and solar wind fine structure, with advanced, 3-D plasma instrumentation. They also provide an ideal data set for both heliospheric and magnetospheric multi-spacecraft studies where they can be used in conjunction with other, simultaneous observations from spacecraft such as Ulysses. The SWEPAM observations are made simultaneously with independent electron and ion instruments. In order to save costs for the ACE project, we recycled the flight spares from the joint NASA/ESA Ulysses mission. Both instruments have undergone selective refurbishment as well as modernization and modifications required to meet the ACE mission and spacecraft accommodation requirements. Both incorporate electrostatic analyzers whose fan-shaped fields of view sweep out all pertinent look directions as the spacecraft spins. Enhancements in the SWEPAM instruments from their original forms as Ulysses spare instruments include (1) a factor of 16 increase in the accumulation interval (and hence sensitivity) for high energy, halo electrons; (2) halving of the effective ion-detecting CEM spacing from ∼5° on Ulysses to ∼2.5° for ACE; and (3) the inclusion of a 20° conical swath of enhanced sensitivity coverage in order to measure suprathermal ions outside of the solar wind beam. New control electronics and programming provide for 64-s resolution of the full electron and ion distribution functions and cull out a subset of these observations for continuous real-time telemetry for space weather purposes. This revised version was published online in June 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Galileo Probe Measurements of D/H and 3He/4He in Jupiter's Atmosphere

The Galileo Probe Mass Spectrometer measurements in the atmosphere of Jupiter give D/H = (2.6 ± 0.7) × 10-5 3He/4He = (1.66 ± 0.05) × 10-4These ratios supercede earlier results by Niemann et al. (1996) and are based on a reevaluation of the instrument response at high count rates and a more detailed study of the contributions of different species to the mass peak at 3 amu. The D/H ratio is consistent with Voyager and ground based data and recent spectroscopic and solar wind (SW) values obtained from the Infrared Spectroscopic Observatory (ISO) and Ulysses. The 3He/4He ratio is higher than that found in meteoritic gases (1.5 ± 0.3) × 10-4. The Galileo result for D/H when compared with that for hydrogen in the local interstellar medium (1.6 ± 0.12) × 10-5 implies a small decrease in D/H in this part of the universe during the past 4.55 billion years. Thus, it tends to support small values of primordial D/H - in the range of several times 10-5 rather than several times 10-4. These results are also quite consistent with no change in (D+3He)/H during the past 4.55 billion years in this part of our galaxy.