GEOTAIL Energetic Particles and Ion Composition Instrument.

Abstract

The Energetic Particles and Ion Composition (EPIC) instrument, flown onboard the GEOTAIL satellite, is designed to measure the characteristics of particle populations important to understanding the make-up and dynamics of the earth's geomagnetic tail. To do this, EPIC, a joint endeavor between the Technical University of Braunschweig (TUB), the University of Maryland (UM), and The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (JHU/APL), is made up of five subassemblies: the Supra-Thermal Ion Composition Spectrometer(STICS) sensor, the STICS analog electronics, the Ion Composition System (ICS) sensor, the ICS analog electronics, and the Data Processing Unit (DPU)