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Communication Dans Un Congrès Année : 2017

The "Alfvén" proposal for the European Space Agency M5 Mission Call

A. Fazakerley
  • Fonction : Auteur

Résumé

The Alfvén mission objective is to elucidate the particle acceleration processes and their consequences for electromagnetic radiation and energy transport in strongly magnetised plasmas. The Earth's Auroral Acceleration Region is a unique laboratory for investigating these processes. The only way to distinguish between the models describing acceleration processes at the heart of Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling is to combine high-time resolution in situ measurements (as pioneered by FAST), multi-point measurements (as pioneered by CLUSTER), and auroral arc imaging in one mission. Charged particle acceleration in strongly magnetized plasmas requires the conversion of electromagnetic energy into magnetic-field-aligned particle kinetic energy. Alfvén will measure for the first time the occurrence and distribution of small scale parallel electric fields in space and time. In order to determine the relative efficiency of the different conversion mechanisms, Alfvén will also measure the corresponding particle energy fluxes locally and into the aurora. Alfvén will discover how electromagnetic radiation is generated in the acceleration region and how it escapes. Alfvén will make key measurements of Auroral Kilometric Radiation needed to test competing models of wave generation, mode conversion and escape from their source region. These will reveal the mode conversion processes and which information is ultimately carried by the polarization of radio waves reaching free space. Alfvén will discover the global impact of particle acceleration on the dynamic coupling between a magnetized object and its plasma environment. Dual spacecraft measurements offer the unique opportunity to unambiguously determine which part of the energy flowing into the ionosphere is eventually dissipated in this collisional plasma and which part is transmitted to outflowing ions of ionospheric origin. The Alfvén mission design involves use of two simple identical spacecraft, a comprehensive suite of inter-calibrated particles and fields instruments, cutting edge auroral imaging, easily accessible orbits that frequently visit the region of scientific interest and straightforward operations.
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Dates et versions

hal-02796750 , version 1 (05-06-2020)

Identifiants

  • HAL Id : hal-02796750 , version 1

Citer

Matthieu Berthomier, A. Fazakerley. The "Alfvén" proposal for the European Space Agency M5 Mission Call. American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting, Dec 2017, New Orleans, Louisiane, United States. pp.SM41A-2678. ⟨hal-02796750⟩
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