The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) for Solar Orbiter – Sensor Status and Calibration

Robert F Wimmer-Schweingruber1, Javier Rodriguez-Pacheco2, Glenn M Mason3, Cesar Martin-Garcia4, Manuel Prieto2, Stephan I Boettcher1, Shrinivasrao R. Kulkarni1, Lauri Panitzsch5, Sebastian Sanchez6, George C Ho7, Jan Kohler8, Raul Gomez-Herrero9, Juan Jose Blanco10 and Solar Orbiter EPD Team, (1)University of Kiel, Institute for Experimental and Applied Physics, Kiel, Germany, (2)University of Alcalá, Space Research Group, Alcalá de Henares, Spain, (3)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, United States, (4)IEAP, University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany, (5)now at OHB Systems, Bremen, Germany, (6)University of Alcala, Alcala de Henares, Spain, (7)southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States, (8)University of Kiel, Kiel, Germany, (9)University of Alcala, Space Research Group, Alcala de Henares, Spain, (10)University of Alcala, Alcala de Henarez, Spain
Abstract:
Solar Orbiter will solve the puzzle how the Sun creates and controls the heliosphere, the giant plasma bubble which forms as a result of the interaction of the solar wind with the local interstellar medium. Energetic particles are part of this puzzle and help understand the various driving forces and energy release processes in the solar corona. The Energetic Particle Detector (EPD) will determine how the Sun energizes particles to very high energies and sometimes fills the heliosphere with particle radiation. It consists of a suite of sensors which will measure protons (electrons) from 3 (2) keV up to 100 (20) MeV and ions from few tens of keV/nuc to 200 MeV/nuc. We will discuss the scientific aims of EPD as well as the current status and calibration of the EPD sensor (STEP, EPT, SIS, HET).
Back to: Coordinated Science from the Corona to the Inner Heliosphere in Preparation for Solar Probe Plus and Solar Orbiter I Posters