UK involvement in the SOHO/Cluster project [solar terrestrial physics]

The Cluster contribution to the overall project is a set of four spacecraft which form a tetrahedral pattern over parts of their near polar orbits. The spacecraft´s instrumental capabilities make vector measurements of the physical parameters defining the plasma properties possible. Each spacecraft will carry a plasma, electron and current experiment. Interactions between different plasma populations in the Earth´s magnetosphere can cause both electric and magnetic components of various plasma wave modes. Data from many sensors on board each spacecraft will be analysed by a specialised control and analysis computer called the Digital Wave Processing Experiment