• DOI:10.1007/S11214-015-0232-1
• Corpus ID: 14670274

The MAVEN Solar Wind Electron Analyzer

@article{Mitchell2016TheMS,
  title={The MAVEN Solar Wind Electron Analyzer},
  author={David L. Mitchell and Christian Xavier Mazelle and J. A. Sauvaud and J. J. Thocaven and J-N. Rouzaud and Alexander O. Fedorov and P. Rouger and Dominique Toublanc and Ellen Taylor and Dorothy A. Gordon and Miles Robinson and Sue Heavner and Paul Turin and Millan Fernando Diaz-Aguado and David W. Curtis and Robert P. Lin and Bruce M. Jakosky},
  journal={Space Science Reviews},
  year={2016},
  volume={200},
  pages={495-528}
}

• D. Mitchell, C. Mazelle, +14 authors B. Jakosky
• Published 22 February 2016
• Physics
• Space Science Reviews

The MAVEN Solar Wind Electron Analyzer (SWEA) is a symmetric hemispheric electrostatic analyzer with deflectors that is designed to measure the energy and angular distributions of 3-4600-eV electrons in the Mars environment. This energy range is important for impact ionization of planetary atmospheric species, and encompasses the solar wind core and halo populations, shock-energized electrons, auroral electrons, and ionospheric primary photoelectrons. The instrument is mounted at the end of a 1.5-meter boom to provide a clear field of view that spans nearly 80 % of the sky with ∼20° resolution. With an energy resolution of 17 % (ΔE/E$\Delta E/E$), SWEA readily distinguishes electrons of solar wind and ionospheric origin. Combined with a 2-second measurement cadence and on-board real-time pitch angle mapping, SWEA determines magnetic topology with high (∼8-km) spatial resolution, so that local measurements of the plasma and magnetic field can be placed into global context.