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- The Solar Wind Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor (SWEPAM) on the Advanced
Composition Explorer (ACE) measures the solar wind plasma electron and ion
fluxes (rates of particle flow) as functions of direction and energy. These
data provide detailed knowledge of the solar wind conditions and internal state
every minute. SWEPAM also provides real-time solar wind observations which are
continuously telemetered to the ground for space weather purposes.
Electron and ion measurements are made with separate sensors. The ion sensor
measures particle energies between about 0.26 and 36 KeV, and the electron
sensor's energy range is between 1 and 1350 eV. Both sensors use electrostatic
analyzers with fan-shaped fields-of-view. The electrostatic analyzers measure
the energy per charge of each particle by bending their flight paths through
the system. The fields-of-view are swept across all solar wind directions by
the rotation of the spacecraft.
SWEPAM was built jointly by the Los Alamos and Sandia National Laboratories in
New Mexico. It is built from the spare solar wind electron and ion analyzers
from the Ulysses mission with selective modifications and improvements.
See:
http://swepam.lanl.gov/
Group: Instrument_Details
Entry_ID: SWEPAM
Group: Instrument_Identification
Instrument_Category: Solar/Space Observing Instruments
Instrument_Class: Particle Detectors
Short_Name: SWEPAM
Long_Name: Solar Wind Electron, Proton, and Alpha Monitor
End_Group
Group: Instrument_Associated_Sensors
Short_Name: IS_SWEPAM
Short_Name: ES_SWEPAM
End_Group
Group: Associated_Platforms
Short_Name: ACE
End_Group
Online_Resource: http://swepam.lanl.gov/
Sample_Image: http://helios.gsfc.nasa.gov/ace/swepam_sm.tif
Group: Instrument_Logistics
Data_Rate: 1 kbps
Instrument_Start_Date: 1997-08-25
Instrument_Owner: Los Alamos National Laboratory
Instrument_Owner: Sandia National Laboratory
End_Group
End_Group
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