Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Physics Commons

Open Access. Powered by Scholars. Published by Universities.®

Plasma

Publications

Articles 1 - 2 of 2

Full-Text Articles in Physics

Invited Article: Data Analysis Of The Floating Potential Measurement Unit Aboard The International Space Station, Aroh Barjatya, Charles M. Swenson, Donald C. Thompson, Kenneth H. Wright Jan 2009

Invited Article: Data Analysis Of The Floating Potential Measurement Unit Aboard The International Space Station, Aroh Barjatya, Charles M. Swenson, Donald C. Thompson, Kenneth H. Wright

Publications

We present data from the Floating Potential Measurement Unit (FPMU) that is deployed on the starboard truss of the International Space Station. The FPMU is a suite of instruments capable of redundant measurements of various plasma parameters. The instrument suite consists of a floating potential probe, a wide-sweeping spherical Langmuir probe, a narrow-sweeping cylindrical Langmuir probe, and a plasma impedance probe. This paper gives a brief overview of the instrumentation and the received data quality, and then presents the algorithm used to reduce I-V curves to plasma parameters. Several hours of data are presented from August 5, 2006 and March …


Electron Density And Electron Neutral Collision Frequency In The Ionosphere Using Plasma Impedance Probe Measurement, E. Spencer, S. Patra, T. Andriyas, C. Swenson, J. Ward, Aroh Barjatya Sep 2008

Electron Density And Electron Neutral Collision Frequency In The Ionosphere Using Plasma Impedance Probe Measurement, E. Spencer, S. Patra, T. Andriyas, C. Swenson, J. Ward, Aroh Barjatya

Publications

Swept Impedance Probe measurements in a sporadic E layer observed during the Sudden Atomic Layer (SAL) sounding rocket mission are analyzed to obtain absolute electron densities and electron neutral collision frequencies accurately. Three sets of upleg and downleg impedance data are selected for the analysis. Initial estimates of the plasma parameters are obtained through a least mean square fit of the measured impedance data against the analytical impedance formula ZB(f ) of Balmain (1969). These initial parameters are used as a starting point to drive a finite difference computational model of an antenna immersed in a plasma called PF-FDTD. The …