Abstract
This study proposes a novel AC vector magnetometer developed using a low-resource magneto-impedance sensor for China’s Feng-Yun meteorological satellite (FY-3E). It was calibrated and characterized to determine its performance parameters. The total weight of the AC vector magnetometer is 51 g (the aluminum box excluded), while the total power consumption is 310 mW. The proposed AC vector magnetometer can detect magnetic field variations in the range of ±1000 nT and noise power spectral density of ⩽ 50 pT/Hz1/2 @ 1 Hz. Furthermore, the proposed device has a maximum nonlinearity of ⩽ 0.71‰ over the entire range and a nonorthogonality error of 3.07 nT or 0.15% (root mean square). The total dose hardness of the sensor is ⩾ 30 krad (Si). Furthermore, we propose the first survey results of a magnetometer equipped aboard a Chinese FY-3E satellite in a Sun-synchronous orbit. The data revealed that the AC vector magnetometer can detect transient physical signals such as quasistatic field-aligned currents (~50 nT) and waves at the auroral latitudes. These features render the proposed AC vector magnetometer suitable for space-based applications, particularly those involving the study of geomagnetic activity.
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This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant No. 42074223). The authors would also like to thank National Center for Space Weather for providing the in-flight data.
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Yu, X., Huang, C., Xiao, C. et al. AC vector magnetometer for space-based applications using low-resource magneto-impedance sensor. Sci. China Technol. Sci. 66, 3663–3670 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2390-2
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11431-022-2390-2