BackInstrument:  XFM 

Instrument details
Acronym XFM
Full name X-ray Flux Monitor
Purpose Solar X-ray flux measurement in the Interplanetary space
Short description
  • Measures solar X-ray flux in range 1.55–24.8 keV in 6 separate channels 1–1.55 keV, 1.55–3.1 keV, 3.1–6.2 keV, 6.2–12.4 keV, 12.4–24.8 keV, 24.8 keV–30 keV.
  • Photon flux range 2x10−8 - 2x10−3 W/m−2. 
  • Uses silicon drift technology.
  • More details here
Background

A Finnish instrument supported by ESA to fly on various satellites.
Scanning Technique

Not scanning. A 10 deg FoV to cover entire solar environment.
Resolution Spectrum: < 400 eV @ 6 keV
Coverage / Cycle Sampling interval 1 s for flux and 60 s for full spectral range.
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency ESA
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2025 to 2030
Last update: 2024-11-11
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

Instrument classification
  • Solar and space environment monitors
  • Space radiometer or spectrometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 2
  • Solar magnetograph, solar EUV/X-ray imagery and EUV/X-ray irradiance, both on the Earth-Sun line and off the Earth-Sun line
  • Solar X-ray spectrometer [from L1, GEO, LEO]
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • X-ray flux spectrum
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
X-ray flux spectrum*3 - highNo specific limitation.Interplanetary space viewing, high spectral resolution