DYNAMICS EXPLORER
Two Dynamics Explorer (DE) spacecraft were launched August 3, 1981, and placed into coplanar polar orbits with DE-1 in a highly elliptical orbit and DE-2 in a lower more circular orbit. The primary objective of the DE program was to investigate magnetosphere-ionosphere-atmosphere coupling processes.
The DE-1 Plasma Wave Instrument (PWI) was designed and built by the plasma wave group at The University of Iowa Department of Physics and Astronomy in collaboration with investigators at Stanford University's STAR Laboratory. The PWI provided a wealth of new information on a wide variety of magnetospheric plasma wave phenomena including auroral kilometric radiation, auroral hiss, Z mode radiation, narrow-band electromagnetic emissions associated with equatorial upper hybrid waves, whistler mode emissions, wave-particle interactions stimulated by ground VLF transmitters, equatorial ion cyclotron emissions, ion Bernstein mode emissions, and electric field turbulence along the auroral field lines.
DE-1 Plasma Wave Topics
- Science Background
- Instrument Description
- Investigators
- Publications
- Observations
- Access to Data
More DE Information
- Dynamics Explorer Information from NSSDC
- DE-1 Spin-scan Auroral Imager (SAI)
- DE-1 Retarding Ion Mass Spectrometer (RIMS)
- DE-1 Energetic Ion Mass Spectrometer (EICS)