<title>Imagers for the magnetosphere, aurora, and plasmasphere (IMAP)</title>

Abstract

We propose a small Explorer (SMEX) IMAP mission to provide the first global magnetospheric images that will allow a systematic study of major regions of the magnetosphere, their dynamics and their interactions. The mission objective is to obtain simultaneous images of the inner magnetosphere (ring current and trapped particles), the plasmasphere, the aurora, and auroral upflowing ions. The four IMAP instruments are (1) a Low Energy Neutral Particle Imager (LENPI) for imaging H and O atoms, separately, in the energy range of approximately 1 - 30 keV, in several energy passbands, (2) an Energetic Neutral Particle Imager (ENPI) for imaging H atoms in the energy range approximately 15 keV - 200 keV and, separately, O atoms in the energy range approximately 60 keV - 200 keV, each in several energy passbands, (3) an Extreme-Ultraviolet Imager (EUVI) to obtain images of the plasmasphere (the distribution of cold He+) using He+ (30.4-nm) emissions; and (4) a Far-Ultraviolet Imaging Monochromator (FUVIM) to provide images of the aurora and the geocorona. All images will be obtained with time and spatial resolutions appropriate to the global and macroscale structures to be observed. The results expected from IMAP will provide the first large-scale visualization of the ring current, the trapped ion populations, the plasmasphere, and the upflowing auroral ion population.© (1993) COPYRIGHT SPIE--The International Society for Optical Engineering. Downloading of the abstract is permitted for personal use only.