Pro ISSI talk

Abstract: Swarm, a satellite constellation mission comprising three identical spacecraft, was launched by the European Space Agency in November 2013. Two of the Swarm satellites are flying in near-polar orbits almost side-by-side (with 1.4 degrees separation in longitude, corresponding to 155 km near the equator) at an altitude of about 450 km. The third satellite is at a slightly higher (about 520 km) altitude.

The main objective of Swarm is to provide the best-ever survey of Earth’s magnetic field. Each of the three satellites carries therefore a magnetometry package for measuring the strength and direction of Earth's magnetic field, and additional instruments to measure the in-situ electric field, plasma density and temperature, and non-gravitational acceleration.

After more than four years in orbit, the Swarm satellites have collected a wealth of data that allow scientists to explore the deep interior and environment of our planet. In this talk I will present the Swarm satellite mission and discuss recent scientific highlights, including fast changes in Earth’s core field, new details of the lithospheric magnetisation, and the determination of the very weak magnetic signal produced by ocean tides and its use to investigate the electrical conductivity of Earth’s interior.