The Coupled Dark State Magnetometer (CDSM) is an optically pumped magnetometer. For the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer mission, the CDSM and two fluxgate magnetometers are combined in the J-MAG instrument to measure the static and low frequency magnetic field in the Jupiter system. During certain calibration manoeuvres, the CDSM has to be able to measure magnetic field strengths down to 100 nT with an accuracy of 0.2 nT ( 1 sigma). At such low magnetic fields, the CDSM's operational parameters must be carefully selected to obtain narrow resonance structures. Otherwise, the coupled dark state resonances, used for the magnetic field detection in different instrument modes, overlap and result in a systematic error. The overlap of the resonances and therefore the systematic error mainly depends on the resonance line width and the selected modulation frequencies for the detection of the resonances. We show that a line width of less than 200 Hz and selecting a modulation frequency of about the resonance line width are beneficial at magnetic field strengths B<1.5 mu T. In this paper we demonstrate that with the found instrument settings the CDSM is able to measure magnetic field strengths below 100 nT with a systematic error less than 0.2 nT resulting from the overlap of the resonances.

This paper discusses the accuracy of the scalar Coupled Dark State Magnetometer on board the Jupiter Icy Moons Explorer (JUICE) mission of the European Space Agency (ESA). The scalar magnetometer, referred to as MAGSCA, is part of the J-MAG instrument. MAGSCA is an optical omnidirectional scalar magnetometer based on coherent population trapping, a quantum interference effect, within the hyperfine manifold of the 87Rb D1 line. The measurement principle is only based on natural constants; therefore, it is in principle drift-free, and no calibration is required. However, the technical realisation can influence the measurement accuracy. The most dominating effects are heading characteristics, which are deviations of the magnetic field strength measurements from the ambient magnetic field strength. These deviations are a function of the angle between the sensor axis and the magnetic field vector and are an intrinsic physical property of the measurement principle of the magnetometer. The verification of the accuracy of the instrument is required to ensure its compliance with the performance requirement of 0.2 nT (1σ) with a data rate of 1 Hz. The verification is carried out with four dedicated sensor orientations in a Merritt coil system, which is located in the geomagnetic Conrad Observatory (COBS). The coil system is used to compensate the Earth's magnetic field and to apply appropriate test fields to the sensor. This paper presents a novel method to separate the heading characteristics of the instrument from residual (offset) fields within the coil system by fitting a mathematical model to the measured data and by the successful verification of the MAGSCA performance requirement.

This paper discusses various frequency modulation and intensity modulation capabilities within a sample of direct laser current modulated identical vertical cavity surface emitting laser diodes. The presented analysis is based on measurements of the spectral amplitudes as a function of the applied modulation power at a constant modulation frequency of 3.517 GHz. Their evaluation by Bessel function fits produces the three modulation parameters: frequency modulation index, intensity modulation index (via the α parameter) and the side band asymmetry of the first order side bands. The variation of the laser diode’s modulation capability is discussed. It is found that the individual laser diodes show a large variation in their modulation capabilities. This requires the selection of suitable laser diodes as a laser source for atomic vapour applications with the special emphasis on a coherent population trapping based scalar magnetometers

With the accumulation of data, it is possible to study the long-term variation of Fluxgate Magnetometers (FGM) of High Precision Magnetometer (HPM) onboard the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES). The calibration method of HPM depends on an assumption that the linear parameters of FGM, including the gain factors, the offsets, and nonorthogonal angles are stable. However, HPM exhibits some unexpected trends in the scalar residuals when processed according to the assumption. Study on the residual finds out that under changing space thermal conditions, the non-orthogonal angles of FGM change periodically, suggesting that the data calibration method we used before should be modified. A multi-dimensional polynomial model is established for defining the change of nonorthogonal angles of FGM as a function of the sun incidence angles, geographic latitude and sensor temperature. Apply the polynomial model to data from August 2018 to May 2021, the standard deviation of the scalar residuals is reduced to around 0.5 nT and tends to be more random and in line with the normal distribution. Meanwhile, the variation trend in gain factors and offset factors are eliminated. Results show that the model can correctly reflect the period variation of the non-orthogonal angles of FGM with the space thermal conditions.

We report on the variation of electric power density linked to very low frequency (VLF) signal observed during the minimum of solar cycle 25. The detected VLF signal is emitted by the NWC radio station localized in the southern hemisphere, at 21.5∘ S and 114.2∘ E. We attempt in this work to quantify the beam as detected by the Electric Field Detector (EFD) instrument onboard CSES satellite. Geometrical key parameters have been considered to analysis the variation of the power density taking into consideration the distance between the satellite trajectory and the NWC station and its conjugate region. The beam behavior is found to be subject to significant disturbances in the conjugate region with the presence of signal modulations. Above the NWC transmitter station, the beam can be considered as a hollow cone but with irregularity dependence on the electric power density.

The Coupled Dark State Magnetometer is an atomic magnetometer designed for magnetic field measurements in space. Its measurement principle is based on the excitation of coupled dark state resonances prepared via the coherent population trapping effect. The coupled dark state resonances enable the compensation of disturbing frequency shifts which degrade the measurement accuracy. Results with a sensor design based on a single laser beam pass through the sensor unit reveal a reduced ability to compensate these disturbing effects compared to theoretical predictions. Therefore, a new sensor design is presented which enables a dual laser beam pass through the sensor unit. For almost all angles between the external magnetic field and the light propagation direction, the dual pass sensor design enables a better compensation of disturbing frequency shifts than the single pass sensor design - up to a factor of nine.

The CSES high precision magnetometer (HPM), consisting of two fluxgate magnetometers (FGM) and one coupled dark state magnetometer (CDSM), has worked successfully for more than 5 years providing continuous magnetic field measurements since the launch of the CSES in February 2018. After rechecking almost every year’s data, it has become possible to make an improvement to the in-flight intrinsic calibration (to estimate offsets, scale values and non-orthogonality) and alignment (to estimate three Euler angles for the rotation between the orthogonalized sensor coordinates and the coordinate system of the star tracker) of the FGM. The following efforts have been made to achieve this goal: For the sensor calibration, FGM sensor temperature corrections on offsets and scale values have been taken into account to remove seasonal effects. Based on these results, Euler angles have been estimated along with global geomagnetic field modeling to improve the alignment of the FGM sensor. With this, a latitudinal effect in the east component of the originally calibrated data could be reduced. Furthermore, it has become possible to prolong the updating period of all calibration parameters from daily to 10 days, without the separation of dayside and nightside data. The new algorithms optimize routine HPM data processing efficiency and data quality.

The China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) was launched successfully in February 2018. It is China's first satellite to measure geophysical fields with scientific goals in both space and solid earth physics. In this work, we used CSES scalar magnetic data to derive a global lithospheric magnetic field model between ±65° geographic latitudes. The nightside data from March 2018 to November 2022 under quiet space weather conditions were selected. Then, the core and external fields were removed with the CHAOS-7 model. After further data quality control, the data were used to build a lithospheric magnetic field model using a spherical harmonic analysis. The obtained CSES model was compared with the CHAOS-7, CM6, and MF7 models in terms of power spectra and anomaly details, which confirmed that the CSES scalar data had good quality and could provide a reliable lithospheric magnetic field model up to degree 42.

Based on the in-orbit magnetic field data of the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) and Swarm satellites, some research studies on the data consistency cross comparison were carried out. The condition applied is that two satellites pass by in a relatively short period of time and through the spatial location at a relatively close range, and different spatial-temporal scale standards were set, combined with the Kp index to screen for geomagnetic quiet periods. Then, with the help of the CHAOS model, indirect analysis was realized. Furthermore, the difference between the in-orbit data and model value was visualized, and the phenomenon and possible reason for data variation with time and geomagnetic latitude variation were analyzed. These analysis results are displayed in this study, which may evaluate the reliability of the satellite magnetic field detection data and the consistency of multiple satellite detection results and provide a methodological reference for carrying out similar evaluation and analysis subsequently.

High precision magnetometer (HPM) is a magnetic field detection payload onboard China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES), including two fluxgate magnetometers (FGM) and a coupled dark state magnetometer (CDSM). Observations show that FGM appears to be influenced when tri-band beacon (TBB) is powered on and emits electromagnetic waves. The interference phenomenon is further validated based on both in-orbit observation analysis and electromagnetic compatibility (EMC) tests on the ground. A joint correction algorithm based on the least square fitting and first-order difference method according to scalar magnetometer data is proposed to eliminate the interference. The algorithm significantly improves the consistency of HPM data. After correction, the average scalar deviation error could be reduced from 9.0 nT to around 0.7 nT.

We report on the wave spectral intensity variations associated to very low frequency (VLF) signal observed during the minimum of solar cycle 25. The VLF signal is emitted by the ground-based NWC radio station localized in the southern hemisphere, at −21.5°S and 114°E. The variation of NWC radio signals is daily detected by the electric field experiment EFD onboard the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES). This satellite has an altitude of about 507 km in a polar and circular sun-synchronous orbit with local time nodes of 02 LT and 14 LT. We study the spectral intensity variations at the frequency of 19.79 kHz in three specific regions: above the NWC station, around the magnetic equatorial plane, and at the conjugate point. We analyze the electric flux above those key regions and estimate the corresponding intensity levels.

Processes and threats related to natural hazards play an important role in the evolution of the Earth and in human history. The purpose of this study is to investigate magnetic field variations measured at low Earth orbit (LEO) altitudes possibly associated with earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, and artificial outbursts. We focus on two missions with well equipped magnetometer packages, the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) and ESA's three spacecraft Swarm fleet. After a natural hazards survey in the context of this satellites, and consideration of external magnetospheric and solar influences, together with spacecraft interferences, wavelet analysed spatio-temporal patterns in ionospheric magnetic field variations related to atmospheric waves are examined in detail. We provide assessment of the links between specific lithospheric or near surface sources and ionospheric magnetic field measurements. For some of the diverse events the achieved statistical results show a change in the pattern between pre- and post-event periods, we show there is an increase in the fluctuations for the higher frequency (smaller scales) components. Our results are relevant to studies which establish a link between space based magnetic field measurements and natural hazards.

Using magnetic field data from the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) mission, we derive a global geomagnetic field model, which we call the CSES Global Geomagnetic Field Model (CGGM). This model describes the Earth’s magnetic main field and its linear temporal evolution over the time period between March 2018 and September 2019. As the CSES mission was not originally designed for main field modelling, we carefully assess the ability of the CSES orbits and data to provide relevant data for such a purpose. A number of issues are identified, and an appropriate modelling approach is found to mitigate these. The resulting CGGM model appears to be of high enough quality, and it is next used as a parent model to produce a main field model extrapolated to epoch 2020.0, which was eventually submitted on October 1, 2019 as one of the IGRF-13 2020 candidate models. This CGGM candidate model, the first ever produced by a Chinese-led team, is also the only one relying on a data set completely independent from that used by all other candidate models. A successful validation of this candidate model is performed by comparison with the final (now published) IGRF-13 2020 model and all other candidate models. Comparisons of the secular variation predicted by the CGGM parent model with the final IGRF-13 2020–2025 predictive secular variation also reveal a remarkable agreement. This shows that, despite their current limitations, CSES magnetic data can already be used to produce useful IGRF 2020 and 2020–2025 secular variation candidate models to contribute to the official IGRF-13 2020 and predictive secular variation models for the coming 2020–2025 time period. These very encouraging results show that additional efforts to improve the CSES magnetic data quality could make these data very useful for long-term monitoring of the main field and possibly other magnetic field sources, in complement to the data provided by missions such as the ESA Swarm mission.

Providing accurate measurement of the magnetic field intensity and its vector components is one of the primary objectives of the China Seismo‐Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES). The high precision magnetometer (HPM) payload assembled on CSES is designed to achieve this goal. In this study, the data format, naming convention, and content of the CSES HPM Level 2 scientific data products are introduced, as a reference for users who are interested in this data set. In particular, flags for potential magnetic field disturbances from the platform and payloads are discussed. Possible scientific applications are also outlined. A preliminary validation of the data is conducted through comparison with magnetic data from the ESA’s Swarm constellation, and the result demonstrates that the HPM data of CSES are of good quality. Taking the intense geomagnetic storm that occurred on August 25–26, 2018 as an example, the magnetic field variations and the expansion of the field‐aligned currents (FACs) during this storm are discussed. We finally show that the CSES HPM data can be used to derive a satellite‐derived index equivalent to the Dst index, which agrees well to the index during this event. Our analysis thus suggests a high scientific potential of the HPM data.

In this study we investigate ionospheric disturbances over earthquake prone areas with two methods.The satellite based approach - in our case magnetic field measurements from CSES-01 and Swarm mission - shed light on ionospheric F-region plasma variations at low-earth orbit (LEO) altitudes around 500 km. The complemen-tary second technique is based on variations of the so-called Earth-ionosphere waveguide, the cavity between Earth’s surface and the lower ionospheric D/E (day/night) upper boundary at approx. 70-90 km altitude. Electric field ampli-tude and phase perturbations of paths between several narrowband VLF/LF transmitter and a receiver network are continuously recorded.In both cases the lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling (LAIC) is a key area and of vital importance in order to establish the propagation char-acteristics from the seismic zone up to high altitudes. Possible mechanisms are discussed in the literature, e.g. [1], [2]. In this presentation we focus on acous-tic waves and atmospheric gravity waves (AGW) as energy-momentum trans-port channel (and filter) to connect the different regions from bottom to top.We examine events form the United States Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake catalog, assign a spatial box of a few degrees in latitude and lon-gitude around the epicenter, investigate measurements from satellite- and/or VLF/LF paths which crosses the box, and report on differences in variations prior and after the events.These findings could point to regular automated procedures in order to disentangle seismic from nonseismic ionospheric pattern and are equally important for upcoming satellite missions and extended ground based networks.

With a new type of a scalar magnetometer, the Coupled Dark State Magnetometer (CDSM) aboard the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) mission, we observed magnetic field fluctuations in the period mid July 2018 until mid November 2018. The measurement range of the CDSM is from 1000 nT up to 100000 nT and the accuracy 0.19 nT (1), the operational performance is discussed in (2). We are using 1 Hz data in the latitude range -65 degree to +65 degree, CSES has an altitude of approx. 507 km in Sun synchronous polar configuration with 97.4 degree inclination. We analyzed the total magnetic field turbulence by converting the time series into thermodynamic parameters, e.g. entropy, finally these results have been compared with ground based seismic and volcanic events. Ref: (1) Pollinger, A., et al.: Coupled dark state magnetometer for the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite, Measurement Science and Technology, 29, 9, 2018. https://doi.org/10.1088/1361-6501/aacde4 (2) Pollinger, A., et al.: In-orbit results of the Coupled Dark State Magnetometer aboard the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite, Geosci. Instrum. Method. Data Syst., 9, 275–291, 2020. https://doi.org/10.5194/gi-9-275-2020

The China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) was launched in February 2018 into a polar, sun-synchronous, low Earth orbit. It provides the first demonstration of the Coupled Dark State Magnetometer (CDSM) measurement principle in space. The CDSM is an optical scalar magnetometer based on the coherent population trapping (CPT) effect and measures the scalar field with the lowest absolute error aboard CSES. Therefore, it serves as the reference instrument for the measurements done by the fluxgate sensors within the High Precision Magnetometer instrument package. In this paper several correction steps are discussed in order to improve the accuracy of the CDSM data. This includes the extraction of valid 1 Hz data, the application of the sensor heading characteristic, the handling of discontinuities, which occur when switching between the CPT resonance superpositions, and the removal of fluxgate and satellite interferences. The in-orbit performance is compared to the Absolute Scalar Magnetometer aboard the Swarm satellite Bravo via the CHAOS magnetic field model. Additionally, an uncertainty of the magnetic field measurement is derived from unexpected parametric changes of the CDSM in orbit in combination with performance measurements on the ground.

In this study we investigate volcanic eruption phenomena related to ionospheric disturbances, e.g. Heki (2006) used total electron content (TEC) measurements for this task. In particular, a model is developed how discharge phenomena (e.g. Houghton etal, 2013) can produce magnetic field variations at SWARM and CSES satellite orbits, i.e. altitudes of ~500 km in the F-region. Several coupling mechanism between lithosphere, atmosphere, and ionosphere are discussed by Simões etal (2012).Experimental evidence is based on magnetic field observations aboard CSES mission in the time frame July 2018 to January 2019. The theoretical considerations include the source mechanism, propagation path, and the signal strength at low earth orbit satellite altitude.Ref:(1) Heki, K., Explosion energy of the 2004 eruption of the Asama Volcano, central Japan, inferred from ionospheric disturbances, GRL, 33, L14303, 2006. doi:10.1029/2006GL026249(2) Houghton, I. M. P., K. L. Aplin, and K. A. Nicoll, Triboelectric Charging of Volcanic Ash from the 2011 Grı́msvötn Eruption, PRL, 111, 118501, 2013. doi:10.1103/PhysRevLett.111.118501 arXiv:1304.1784(3) Simões F., R. Pfaff, J.-J. Berthelier, J. Klenzing, A Review of Low Frequency Electromagnetic Wave Phenomena Related to Tropospheric-Ionospheric Coupling Mechanisms, SSR, 168:551–593, 2012. doi:10.1007/s11214-011-9854-0