Estimation of the electron density from spacecraft potential during high frequency electric field fluctuations

TL;DR

This paper proposes a method to accurately estimate electron density from spacecraft potential during high-frequency electric field fluctuations by removing electric field effects, enabling reliable measurements during wave events.

Contribution

It introduces a novel correction technique to account for electric field effects on spacecraft potential, improving density estimations during wave activities.

Findings

Method successfully isolates density signals during electric field disturbances

Enables high-resolution electron density measurements during plasma wave events

Reduces contamination from electric fields in spacecraft potential data

Abstract

Spacecraft potential has often been used to infer electron density with much higher time resolution than is typically possible with plasma instruments. However, recently two studies by Torkar et al. 2017 and Graham et al. 2018 have shown that external electric fields can also have an effect on the spacecraft potential by enhancing photoelectron escape from the surface. Consequently, should the electron density derived from the spacecraft potential be used during an event with a large electric field, the estimation would be contaminated and the user would see the effects of the electric field rather than density perturbations. The goal of this paper is to propose a method to remove the electric field effects to allow the density derived from spacecraft potential to be used even during large amplitude wave events such as Langmuir waves or upper hybrid waves.