Design and Testing of an Adaptive In-phase Magnetometer (AIMAG), the Equatorial-Electrojet-Detecting Fluxgate Magnetometer, for the CAS500-3 Satellite

Abstract

Ionospheric Anomaly Monitoring by Magnetometer And Plasma-probe (IAMMAP) is a suite of scientific instruments used in the Compact Advanced Satellite 500-3 (CAS 500-3), which is planned to be launched by the KSLV (Korean Space Launch Vehicle) in 2025. The main scientific objective of IAMMAP is to understand the complicated correlation between the equatorial electrojet (EEJ) and the equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA), both of which play important roles in the dynamics of ionospheric plasma in the dayside equator region. The magnetic field generated by the EEJ is tiny (similar to several nT) compared to the background geomagnetic field (similar to 30,000 nT); thus, a high-resolution magnetometer with a wide dynamic range is required to investigate its correlation with the EIA. To achieve this required resolution, IAMMAP includes a set of improved fluxgate magnetometers named the AIMAG (Adaptive In-phase MAGnetometer), which was developed by adopting new technologies. Here, we report the analysis results of the manufactured AIMAG performance based on trade-off studies for optimizing the circuit and sensor configurations. The results support that the AIMAG sensor and electronic circuits with new concepts and technologies will lead to successful observations of EEJ signatures in the ionosphere.