ECT Instrument Suite
The Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma (ECT) suite on Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) contains a well-proven complement of particle instruments designed to ensure the highest quality measurements ever made in the inner magnetosphere. The coordinated ECT particle measurements, analyzed in combination with fields and waves observations and state-of-the-art theory and modeling, are necessary for understanding the acceleration, global distribution, and variability of radiation belt electrons and ions.
The RBSP-ECT suite consists of three highly-coordinated instruments (MagEIS, HOPE, and REPT) that comprehensively cover the full electron and ion spectra from one eV to 10’s of MeV with sufficient energy resolution, pitch angle coverage and resolution, and with composition measurements in the critical energy range up to 50 keV and also from a few to 50 MeV/nucleon.
All three instruments are based on measurement techniques proven in the radiation belts, optimized to provide unambiguous separation of ions and electrons and clean energy responses even in the presence of extreme penetrating background environments. The instrumentation is designed to operate in the harsh RBSP radiation environment, ensuring that ECT particle measurements have the fidelity needed to answer key RBSP science questions.
