CSES Mission
CSES (China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite)[1] is a Chinese-Italian space mission dedicated to monitoring electromagnetic field and waves, plasma and particles perturbations of the atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere induced by natural sources and anthropocentric emitters and to study their correlations with the occurrence of seismic events.
CSES mission will investigate the structure and the dynamic of the topside ionosphere, the coupling mechanisms with the lower and higher plasma layers and the temporal variations of the geomagnetic field, in quiet and disturbed conditions. Data collected by the mission will also allow studying solar-terrestrial interactions and phenomena of solar physics, namely Coronal Mass Ejections (CMEs), solar flares and cosmic ray solar modulation. They will contribute to provide an observational sharing service for international cooperation and the scientific community.
The satellite is based on the Chinese CAST2000 platform. The payload onboard consists of two High-Energy Particle Detectors (LIMADOU HEPD, HEPP Chinese) to measure the particle flux and energy spectrum, a Search-Coil Magnetometer (SCM) and a High Precision Magnetometer (HPM) to measure the components and the total intensity of the magnetic field, respectively, an Electric Field Detector (EFD) to measure the electric field, a Plasma analyzer and a Langmuir probe to measure the disturbance of plasma in ionosphere, a GNSS Occultation Receiver and a Tri-Band Beacon to measure the density of electrons.
The launch of CSES is scheduled for February 2nd, 2018, at the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Center in the Gobi desert (Inner Mongolia). Expected lifetime is 5 years.
History
Institutions Involved
The satellite mission is part of a collaboration program between the China National Space Administration (CNSA) and the Italian Space Agency (ASI), and developed by China Earthquake Administration (CEA) and Italian National Institute for Nuclear Physics (INFN), together with several Chinese and Italian Universities and research Institutes.
The Chinese institutes involved in the project are the China China National Space Administration (CNSA), the China Earthquake Administration (CEA), the Lanzhou Institute of Physics (LIP), the Space Star Techonology Co., the DFH Satellite Co., the National Space Science Center (NSSC) and the Centre for Space Science and Applied Research-Chinese Academy of Science (CSSAR-CAS).
Italy participates to the CSES satellite mission with the LIMADOU project - funded by ASI and INFN - through a collaboration that includes the INFN Divisions of Bologna, Naples, Perugia, Roma Tor Vergata, the INFN Center TIFPA of Trento, the INFN National Laboratories of Frascati, the Universities of Bologna, Trento, Roma Tor Vergata, Uninettuno and the Institutes INAF-IAPS (Italian National Institute of Astrophysics and Planetology) and INGV (Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology).
The Satellite
The CSES mission is a satellite, 3-axis attitude stabilized satellite, based on the Chinese CAST2000 platform. It will be placed at a 98° Sun-synchronous circular orbit at an altitude about 500 km. The satellite mass is about 730 kg and the peak power consumption is about 900 W. Scientific data are transmitted in X-band at 120 Mbps.
There are two different orbital working zones: the payload operating zone, and the platform adjustment zone. The payload instruments will collect measurements in the latitude range of +/- 65°. At higher latitudes (in the platform adjustment regions), all detectors are planned to be switched off, in order to perform the activities of the satellite attitude and orbit control system (AOCS). Each instrument will collect data in two operating modes: ‘‘burst mode’’ and ‘‘survey mode”. The burst mode is usually activated when the satellite passes over the whole China territory and the regions with the strongest seismic activities in the world. The survey mode is planned for other areas of the Earth.
Scientific Goals
The objective of the CSES mission is to study the ionospheric disturbances induced by seismic activity and earthquake preparation mechanisms. It is based on long-term systematic and detailed measurements performed by detectors specifically designed. In particular, the mission aims at analyzing the temporal correlation between seismic events and occurrence of electromagnetic perturbations in the upper ionosphere and precipitations of Van Allen particles. Furthermore, CSES will provide important information on ionosphere parameters and on the unknown behavior of the ionosphere-magnetosphere transition region, in order to develop physical models of lithosphere-atmosphere-ionosphere coupling mechanism.
Another important objective of the mission is the monitoring of the solar impulsive activity and cosmic ray solar modulation by detecting proton and electron fluxes from a few MeV to hundreds of MeV. The measurements will provide an extension up to very low energy of the range of the particle spectra that are monitored, in the current 24th solar cycle, by PAMELA and AMS experiments. It will be also possible to compare the measured spectra with those from other space mission, such as GOES and ACE.