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IMPALAS: Investigation of MagnetoPause Activity using Longitudinally-Aligned Satellites—a mission concept proposed for the ESA M3 2020/2022 launch

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Abstract

The dayside magnetopause is the primary site of energy transfer from the solar wind into the magnetosphere, and modulates the activity observed within the magnetosphere itself. Specific plasma processes operating on the magnetopause include magnetic reconnection, generation of boundary waves, propagation of pressure-pulse induced deformations of the boundary, formation of boundary layers and generation of Alfvén waves and field-aligned current systems connecting the boundary to the inner magnetosphere and ionosphere. However, many of the details of these processes are not fully understood. For example, magnetic reconnection occurs sporadically, producing flux transfer events, but how and where these arise, and their importance to the global dynamics of the magnetospheric system remain unresolved. Many of these phenomena involve propagation across the magnetopause surface. Measurements at widely-spaced (Δ ∼ 5 RE) intervals along the direction of dayside terrestrial field lines at the magnetopause would be decisive in resolving these issues. We describe a mission carrying a fields and plasmas payload (including magnetometer, ion and electron spectrometer and energetic particle telescopes) on three identical spacecraft in synchronized orbits. These provide the needed separations, with each spacecraft skimming the dayside magnetopause and continuously sampling this boundary for many hours. The orbits are phased such that (i) all three spacecraft maintain common longitude and thus sample along the same magnetopause field line; (ii) the three spacecraft reach local midday when northern European ground-based facilities also lie near local midday, enabling simultaneous sampling of magnetopause field lines and their footprints.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Mullard Space Science Laboratory, University College London, Holmbury St. Mary, Dorking, Surrey, RH5 6NT, UK

    Christopher J. Owen, Andrew N. Fazakerley, Colin Forsyth & Andrew P. Walsh

  2. Arctic Research Unit, Finnish Meteorological Institute, Helsinki, Finland

    Olaf Amm

  3. INAF-IFSI, Rome, Italy

    Roberto Bruno

  4. Institute for Space Aeronomy, Brussels, Belgium

    Johan De Keyser

  5. Space Sciences Division, Rutherford Appleton Laboratory, Chilton, Didcot, OX11 0QX, Oxfordshire, UK

    Malcolm W. Dunlop

  6. The Blackett Laboratory, Imperial College, SW7 2AZ, London, UK

    Jonathan P. Eastwood

  7. Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas, Ecole Polytechnique, Vélizy, France

    Dominique Fontaine

  8. Institute of Space and Astronautical Science (ISAS), Kanagawa, Japan

    Hiroshi Hasegawa

  9. Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic, Prague, Czech Republic

    Petr Hellinger, David Hercik, Stepan Stverak & Pavel Travnicek

  10. Institut de Recherche en Astrophysique et Planetologie (IRAP), Toulouse, France

    Christian Jacquey

  11. Radio and Space Plasmas Group, University of Leicester, Leicester, UK

    Steven Milan

  12. Space Science Center, University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

    Joachim Raeder

  13. NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center, 674, Greenbelt, MD, USA

    David G. Sibeck

  14. University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Pavel Travnicek

  15. University of Lancaster, Lancaster, UK

    James A. Wild

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  1. Christopher J. Owen
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  2. Olaf Amm
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  14. Steven Milan
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  19. Andrew P. Walsh
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Correspondence to Christopher J. Owen.

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Owen, C.J., Amm, O., Bruno, R. et al. IMPALAS: Investigation of MagnetoPause Activity using Longitudinally-Aligned Satellites—a mission concept proposed for the ESA M3 2020/2022 launch. Exp Astron 33, 365–401 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-011-9245-2

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10686-011-9245-2

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