Welcome to the Polar spacecraft MFE (Magnetic Field Experiment)
home page. The MFE experiment is designed to measure the vector magnetic
fields along the orbit of Polar. The source of the fields are both the
currents in the interior of the Earth driven by the Earth's dynamo and the
currents flowing within the magnetosphere driven by the interaction of the
Earth's magnetic field and the solar wind. These fields contain a wealth
of information about Earth's magnetosphere and its coupling to the ionosphere
and to the solar wind.
The MFE data also help to organize and interpret the data measured by
other experiments on the Polar spacecraft, especially the energetic particles, plasmas, and electric fields experiments
In its supporting role, MFE data is used both on the spacecraft
for 'pre-telemetry processing' of particles data of all energies
(e.g. to determine field-aligned or perpendicular anisotropies of
particle distribution functions), and on the ground for both particles
and fields contextual information and enhanced data products. A key element in the management of Polar science is the monthly Polar telecon.
Polar space craft.
A summary of the field along the orbit are obtainable from Key
Parameters, which give the most basic information about the
observations as 'quick-look' .92 minute average time series. These
are available under Science Products.
In subsequent pages, we describe the scientific results of the investigation,
the instrument, its operation, science data products
and other aspects of the investigation.