@article{ParkStolleYamazakietal.2020,
  author    = {Park, Jaeheung and Stolle, Claudia and Yamazaki, Yosuke and Rauberg, Jan and Michaelis, Ingo and Olsen, Nils},
  title     = {Diagnosing low-/mid-latitude ionospheric currents using platform magnetometers},
  series = {Earth, planets and space},
  volume    = {72},
  journal   = {Earth, planets and space},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {New York},
  issn      = {1343-8832},
  doi       = {10.1186/s40623-020-01274-3},
  pages     = {18},
  year      = {2020},
  abstract  = {Electric currents flowing in the terrestrial ionosphere have conventionally been diagnosed by low-earth-orbit (LEO) satellites equipped with science-grade magnetometers and long booms on magnetically clean satellites. In recent years, there are a variety of endeavors to incorporate platform magnetometers, which are initially designed for navigation purposes, to study ionospheric currents. Because of the suboptimal resolution and significant noise of the platform magnetometers, however, most of the studies were confined to high-latitude auroral regions, where magnetic field deflections from ionospheric currents easily exceed 100 nT. This study aims to demonstrate the possibility of diagnosing weak low-/mid-latitude ionospheric currents based on platform magnetometers. We use navigation magnetometer data from two satellites, CryoSat-2 and the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO), both of which have been intensively calibrated based on housekeeping data and a high-precision geomagnetic field model. Analyses based on 8 years of CryoSat-2 data as well as similar to 1.5 years of GRACE-FO data reproduce well-known climatology of inter-hemispheric field-aligned currents (IHFACs), as reported by previous satellite missions dedicated to precise magnetic observations. Also, our results show that C-shaped structures appearing in noontime IHFAC distributions conform to the shape of the South Atlantic Anomaly. The F-region dynamo currents are only partially identified in the platform magnetometer data, possibly because the currents are weaker than IHFACs in general and depend significantly on altitude and solar activity. Still, this study evidences noontime F-region dynamo currents at the highest altitude (717 km) ever reported. We expect that further data accumulation from continuously operating missions may reveal the dynamo currents more clearly during the next solar maximum.},
  language  = {en}
}
@article{StolleMichaelisXiongetal.2021,
  author    = {Stolle, Claudia and Michaelis, Ingo and Xiong, Chao and Rother, Martin and Usbeck, Thomas and Yamazaki, Yosuke and Rauberg, Jan and Styp-Rekowski, Kevin},
  title     = {Observing earth's magnetic environment with the GRACE-FO mission},
  series = {Earth, planets and space : EPS},
  volume    = {73},
  journal   = {Earth, planets and space : EPS},
  number    = {1},
  publisher = {Springer},
  address   = {Heidelberg},
  issn      = {1880-5981},
  doi       = {10.1186/s40623-021-01364-w},
  pages     = {21},
  year      = {2021},
  abstract  = {The Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment Follow-On (GRACE-FO) mission carries magnetometers that are dedicated to enhance the satellite's navigation. After appropriate calibration and characterisation of artificial magnetic disturbances, these observations are valuable assets to characterise the natural variability of Earth's magnetic field. We describe the data pre-processing, the calibration, and characterisation strategy against a high-precision magnetic field model applied to the GRACE-FO magnetic data. During times of geomagnetic quiet conditions, the mean residual to the magnetic model is around 1 nT with standard deviations below 10 nT. The mean difference to data of ESA's Swarm mission, which is dedicated to monitor the Earth's magnetic field, is mainly within +/- 10 nT during conjunctions. The performance of GRACE-FO magnetic data is further discussed on selected scientific examples. During a magnetic storm event in August 2018, GRACE-FO reveals the local time dependence of the magnetospheric ring current signature, which is in good agreement with results from a network of ground magnetic observations. Also, derived field-aligned currents (FACs) are applied to monitor auroral FACs that compare well in amplitude and statistical behaviour for local time, hemisphere, and solar wind conditions to approved earlier findings from other missions including Swarm. On a case event, it is demonstrated that the dual-satellite constellation of GRACE-FO is most suitable to derive the persistence of auroral FACs with scale lengths of 180 km or longer. Due to a relatively larger noise level compared to dedicated magnetic missions, GRACE-FO is especially suitable for high-amplitude event studies. However, GRACE-FO is also sensitive to ionospheric signatures even below the noise level within statistical approaches. The combination with data of dedicated magnetic field missions and other missions carrying non-dedicated magnetometers greatly enhances related scientific perspectives.},
  language  = {en}
}