Title: The extreme ultraviolet imager investigation for the IMAGE mission
Author(s): Sandel BR, Broadfoot AL, Curtis CC, King RA, Stone TC, Hill RH, Chen J, Siegmund OHW, Raffanti R, Allred DD, Turley RS, Gallagher DL
Source: SPACE SCIENCE REVIEWS 91 (1-2): 197-242 JAN 2000


Abstract: The Extreme Ultraviolet Imager (EUV) of the IMAGE Mission will study the distribution of He+ in Earth's plasmasphere by detecting its resonantly-scattered emission at 30.4 nm. It will record the structure and dynamics of the cold plasma in Earth's plasmasphere on a global scale. The 30.4-nm feature is relatively easy to measure because it is the brightest ion emission from the plasmasphere, it is spectrally isolated, and the background at that wavelength is negligible. Measurements are easy to interpret because the plasmaspheric He+ emission is optically thin, so its brightness is directly proportional to the He+ column abundance. Effective imaging of the plasmaspheric He+ requires global 'snapshots' in which the high apogee and the wide field of view of EUV provide in a single exposure a map of the entire plasmasphere. EUV consists of three identical sensor heads, each having a field of view 30 degrees in diameter. These sensors are tilted relative to one another to cover a fan-shaped field of 84 degrees x30 degrees, which is swept across the plasmasphere by the spin of the satellite. EUV's spatial resolution is 0.6 degrees or similar to 0.1 R-E in the equatorial plane seen from apogee. The sensitivity is 1.9 count s(-1) Rayleigh(-1), sufficient to map the position of the plasmapause with a time resolution of 10 min.
KeyWords Plus: X-RAY; MICROCHANNEL PLATES; HELIUM; SATELLITE; DETECTORS
Addresses: Sandel BR (reprint author), Univ Arizona, Lunar & Planetary Lab, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
Univ Arizona, Lunar & Planetary Lab, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
Baja Technol LLC, Tucson, AZ 85721 USA
Siegmund Sci, Walnut Creek, CA 94595 USA
Brigham Young Univ, Dept Phys & Astron, Provo, UT 84602 USA
NASA, Dept Space Sci, George C Marshall Space Flight Ctr, Huntsville, AL 35812 USA
Publisher: KLUWER ACADEMIC PUBL, SPUIBOULEVARD 50, PO BOX 17, 3300 AA DORDRECHT, NETHERLANDS


ISSN: 0038-6308