Automated calibration of a flight particle spectrometer

A system for calibrating both electron and ion imaging particle spectrometers was devised to calibrate flight instruments in a large vacuum facility in the Space Science Laboratory at the Marshall Space Flight Center. An IBM-compatible computer was used to control, via an IEEE 488 buss protocol, a two-axis gimbled table, constructed to fit inside the tank. Test settings of various diagnostic voltages were also acquired via the buss. These spectrometers constructed by the author at UCSD were calibrated in an automatic procedure programmed on the small computer. Data was up-loaded to the SSL VAX where a program was developed to plot the results

Automated calibration of a flight particle spectrometer

An automatic calibration system was designed for use in the vacuum facility at the Space Science Laboratory of the Marshall Space Flight Center. That system was developed and used in the intervening winter to calibrate the ion spectrometer that eventually flew in May 1986 aboard the NASA project, CRIT 1. During this summer, it is planned to implement the calibration of both an ion and electron spectrometer of a new design whose basic elements were conceived during the winter of 1985 to 1986. This spectrometer was completed in the summer and successfully mounted in the vacuum tank for calibration. However, the source gate valve malfunctioned, and, at the end of the summer, it still needed a replacement. During the inevitable delays in the experimental research, the numerical model of the Critical Velocity effect was completed and these results were presented

International Solar-Terrestrial Program Data Processing Consortium

The present conception of the data processing scheme is described including the Main Processing Units (MPU) and Satellite Processing Units (SPU) which will acquire the data for the instruments presently planned in the International Solar Terrestrial Physics (ISTP) Project

Numerical Algorithm for Detecting Ion Diffusion Regions in the Geomagnetic Tail with Applications to MMS Tail Season May 1 -- September 30, 2017

We present a numerical algorithm aimed at identifying ion diffusion regions (IDRs) in the geomagnetic tail, and test its applicability. We use 5 criteria applied in three stages. (i) Correlated reversals (within 90 s) of Vx and Bz (at least 2 nT about zero; GSM coordinates); (ii) Detection of Hall electric and magnetic field signatures; and (iii) strong (>10 mV/m) electric fields. While no criterion alone is necessary and sufficient, the approach does provide a robust, if conservative, list of IDRs. We use data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale Mission (MMS) spacecraft during a 5-month period (May 1 to September 30, 2017) of near-tail orbits during the declining phase of the solar cycle. We find 148 events satisfying step 1, 37 satisfying steps 1 and 2, and 17 satisfying all three, of which 12 are confirmed as IDRs. All IDRs were within the X-range [-24, -15] RE mainly on the dusk sector and the majority occurred during traversals of a tailward-moving X-line. 11 of 12 IDRs were on the dusk-side despite approximately equal residence time in both the pre- and post-midnight sectors (56.5% dusk vs 43.5% dawn). MMS could identify signatures of 4 quadrants of the Hall B-structure in 3 events and 3 quadrants in 7 of the remaining 12 confirmed IDRs identified. The events we report commonly display Vx reversals greater than 400 km/s in magnitude, normal magnetic field reversals often >10 nT in magnitude, maximum DC |E| which are often well in excess of the threshold for stage 3. Our results are then compared with the set of IDRs identified by visual examination from Cluster in the years 2000-2005.Comment: In Submission at JGR:Space Physic

Anomalously high potentials observed on ISEE

Data from two electric field experiments and from the plasma composition experiment on ISEE-1 are used to show that the spacecraft charged to close to -70 V in sunlight at 0700 UT on March 17, 1978. Data from the electron spectrometer experiment show that there was a potential barrier of -10 to -20 V about the spacecraft during this event. The potential barrier was effective in turning back emitted photoelectrons to the spacecraft. The stringent electrostatic cleanliness specifications imposed on ISEE make the presence of differential charging unlikely. Modeling of this event is required to determine if the barrier was produced by the presence of space charge

A Vortical Dawn Flank Boundary Layer for Near-Radial IMF: Wind Observations on 24 October 2001

We present an example of a boundary layer tailward of the dawn terminator which is entirely populated by rolled-up flow vortices. Observations were made by Wind on 24 October 2001 as the spacecraft moved across the region at the X plane approximately equal to 13 Earth radii. Interplanetary conditions were steady with a near-radial interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). Approximately 15 vortices were observed over the 1.5 hours duration of Wind's crossing, each lasting approximately 5 min. The rolling up is inferred from the presence of a hot tenuous plasma being accelerated to speeds higher than in the adjoining magnetosheath, a circumstance which has been shown to be a reliable signature of this in single-spacecraft observations. A blob of cold dense plasma was entrained in each vortex, at whose leading edge abrupt polarity changes of field and velocity components at current sheets were regularly observed. In the frame of the average boundary layer velocity, the dense blobs were moving predominantly sunward and their scale size along the X plane was approximately 7.4 Earth radii. Inquiring into the generation mechanism of the vortices, we analyze the stability of the boundary layer to sheared flows using compressible magnetohydrodynamic Kelvin-Helmholtz theory with continuous profiles for the physical quantities. We input parameters from (i) the exact theory of magnetosheath flow under aligned solar wind field and flow vectors near the terminator and (ii) the Wind data. It is shown that the configuration is indeed Kelvin-Helmholtz (KH) unstable. This is the first reported example of KH-unstable waves at the magnetopause under a radial IMF

How accurately can we measure the reconnection rate EME_M for the MMS diffusion region event of 2017-07-11?

We investigate the accuracy with which the reconnection electric field $E_M$ can be determined from in-situ plasma data. We study the magnetotail electron diffusion region observed by NASA's Magnetospheric Multiscale (MMS) on 2017-07-11 at 22:34 UT and focus on the very large errors in $E_M$ that result from errors in an $LMN$ boundary-normal coordinate system. We determine several $LMN$ coordinates for this MMS event using several different methods. We use these $M$ axes to estimate $E_M$. We find some consensus that the reconnection rate was roughly $E_M$=3.2 mV/m $\pm$ 0.06 mV/m, which corresponds to a normalized reconnection rate of $0.18\pm0.035$. Minimum variance analysis of the electron velocity (MVA-$v_e$), MVA of $E$, minimization of Faraday residue, and an adjusted version of the maximum directional derivative of the magnetic field (MDD-$B$) technique all produce {reasonably} similar coordinate axes. We use virtual MMS data from a particle-in-cell simulation of this event to estimate the errors in the coordinate axes and reconnection rate associated with MVA-$v_e$ and MDD-$B$. The $L$ and $M$ directions are most reliably determined by MVA-$v_e$ when the spacecraft observes a clear electron jet reversal. When the magnetic field data has errors as small as 0.5\% of the background field strength, the $M$ direction obtained by MDD-$B$ technique may be off by as much as 35$^\circ$. The normal direction is most accurately obtained by MDD-$B$. Overall, we find that these techniques were able to identify $E_M$ from the virtual data within error bars $\geq$20\%.Comment: Submitted to JGR - Space Physic

EMIC Waves in the Outer Magnetosphere: Observations of an Off-Equator Source Region.

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves at large L shells were observed away from the magnetic equator by the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission nearly continuously for over four hours on 28 October 2015. During this event, the wave Poynting vector direction systematically changed from parallel to the magnetic field (toward the equator), to bidirectional, to antiparallel (away from the equator). These changes coincide with the shift in the location of the minimum in the magnetic field in the southern hemisphere from poleward to equatorward of MMS. The local plasma conditions measured with the EMIC waves also suggest that the outer magnetospheric region sampled during this event was generally unstable to EMIC wave growth. Together, these observations indicate that the bidirectionally propagating wave packets were not a result of reflection at high latitudes but that MMS passed through an off-equator EMIC wave source region associated with the local minimum in the magnetic field

Reply to comment by H. Hasegawa on "Evolution of Kelvin-Helmholtz activity on the dusk flank magnetopause"

We demonstrate, on experimental grounds, that the justifications for the comment by Hasegawa [2009], hereinafter H09, on work done by Foullon et al. [2008], hereinafter F08, are not well founded

A foundation for provitamin A biofortification of maize: genome-wide association and genomic prediction models of carotenoid levels.

Efforts are underway for development of crops with improved levels of provitamin A carotenoids to help combat dietary vitamin A deficiency. As a global staple crop with considerable variation in kernel carotenoid composition, maize (Zea mays L.) could have a widespread impact. We performed a genome-wide association study (GWAS) of quantified seed carotenoids across a panel of maize inbreds ranging from light yellow to dark orange in grain color to identify some of the key genes controlling maize grain carotenoid composition. Significant associations at the genome-wide level were detected within the coding regions of zep1 and lut1, carotenoid biosynthetic genes not previously shown to impact grain carotenoid composition in association studies, as well as within previously associated lcyE and crtRB1 genes. We leveraged existing biochemical and genomic information to identify 58 a priori candidate genes relevant to the biosynthesis and retention of carotenoids in maize to test in a pathway-level analysis. This revealed dxs2 and lut5, genes not previously associated with kernel carotenoids. In genomic prediction models, use of markers that targeted a small set of quantitative trait loci associated with carotenoid levels in prior linkage studies were as effective as genome-wide markers for predicting carotenoid traits. Based on GWAS, pathway-level analysis, and genomic prediction studies, we outline a flexible strategy involving use of a small number of genes that can be selected for rapid conversion of elite white grain germplasm, with minimal amounts of carotenoids, to orange grain versions containing high levels of provitamin A