Spacecraft potential effects on the Dynamics Explorer 2 satellite

Abstract

The relationship between the plasma environment and spacecraft potential is examined for the Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE 2) spacecraft in an attempt to improve the accuracy of ion drift measurements by the retarding potential analyzer (RPA). Because of the DE 2 orbit characteristics (apogee near 1000 km and perigee near 300 km) and the configuration of conducting surfaces on the spacecraft, thermal electrons and ions constituted the only significant contributions to the charging currents to the spacecraft surface for the majority of geophysical conditions encountered. The geomagnetic field had considerable effect on the spacecraft potential due to magnetic field confinement of the electrons as well as to the V × B electric field resulting from the movement of the spacecraft across magnetic field lines. Using a database of inferred spacecraft potentials from the RPA, measured electron temperatures from the Langmuir probe (LANG), and calculated V × B electric fields, we derive an algorithm for determining the spacecraft potential (at the location of the RPA on the spacecraft) for any point of the DE 2 orbit. Knowledge of the spacecraft potential subsequently allows us to retrieve relatively accurate ion drifts from the RPA data.