Calibration of Electric Field Sensors Onboard the Resonance Satellite

Strategies and results for calibrating electric field sensors (antennas), as used in radio astronomy, onboard the spacecraft “Resonance” are presented. Calibration is performed for four boom antennas and four cylindrical sensors at the boom tips. These antennas are devised for the measurement of electric fields and plasma parameters. It is shown that the electrical representations of the antennas, the effective length vectors, differ from their mechanical originals and are shortened and tilted by several degrees of angle. The knowledge of the acquired parameters is of great benefit to the Resonance mission. In particular, goniopolarimetry techniques like polarization analysis and direction finding depend crucially on the effective axes. For the first time, this kind of analysis is performed for a space-borne antenna system consisting of boom monopoles and cylindrical tip antennas.