WMO OSCAR | Details for Instrument RBSPICE

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Instrument: RBSPICE

Instrument details

Acronym	RBSPICE
Full name	Radiation Belt Storm Probes Ion Composition Experiment
Purpose	To accurately measure the ring current pressure distribution, which is needed to understand how the inner magnetosphere changes during geomagnetic storms and how that storm environment supplies and supports the acceleration and loss processes involved in creating and sustaining hazardous radiation particle populations
Short description	The relativistic electron motion is driven by the geomagnetic field via time-dependent gradient-curvature drift. The structural variations of the inner magnetospheric field due to storm-time ring current growth control transport and losses in the outer belt. Energy range: 25-1000 keV (electrons) and 20-1000 keV/n (ions with Z from 1 to 8)
Background	Part of a package of instruments moving across the Van Allen belts in the Magnetosphere
Scanning Technique	2 satellites moving to different positions into the Magnetosphere in a low-inclination HEO
Resolution	N/A
Coverage / Cycle	Large fraction of magnetosphere and ionosphere
Mass	6.6 kg	Power	7.1 W	Data Rate	5.4 kbps

Detailed characteristics

Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Van Allen Probes (NASA)
- VAP (2 sat) (see instrument status) Oct 2012 - Oct 2019

Instrument classification

WIGOS Subcomponents

Mission objectives

Primary mission objectives

Evaluation of Measurements

Variable	Relevance for measuring this variable	Operational limitations	Explanation
Electron differential directional flux*	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	Cluster flown through the magnetosphere, low, medium and high energy (up to over 400 keV)
Proton differential directional flux*	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	Cluster flown through the magnetosphere, low and medium energy (up to 1000 keV)
Heavy ion flux energy and mass spectrum*	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	Cross-magnetosphere satellite cluster. Low-medium energy range (<10 up to 100 MeV/n)
Heavy ion angular flux energy and mass spectrum*	1 - primary	No specific limitation.	Cross-magnetosphere satellite cluster. Low-medium energy range (<10 up to 100 MeV/n)
Alpha particles differential directional flux*	3 - high	No specific limitation.	Cross-magnetosphere satellite cluster. Low-medium energy range (<10 up to 100 MeV/n)