The WIND magnetic field investigation

The magnetic field experiment on WIND will provide data for studies of a broad range of scales of structures and fluctuation characteristics of the interplanetary magnetic field throughout the mission, and, where appropriate, relate them to the statics and dynamics of the magnetosphere. The basic instrument of the Magnetic Field Investigation (MFI) is a boom-mounted dual triaxial fluxgate magnetometer and associated electronics. The dual configuration provides redundancy and also permits accurate removal of the dipolar portion of the spacecraft magnetic field. The instrument provides (1) near real-time data at nominally one vector per 92 s as key parameter data for broad dissemination, (2) rapid data at 10.9 vectors s−1 for standard analysis, and (3) occasionally, snapshot (SS) memory data and Fast Fourier Transform data (FFT), both based on 44 vectors s−1. These measurements will be precise (0.025%), accurate, ultra-sensitive (0.008 nT/step quantization), and where the sensor noise level is