BackForwardInstrument:  PAPA 

Instrument details
Acronym PAPA
Full name Plasma Analyzer Package for Aditya
Purpose To understand the composition of solar wind and its energy distribution
Short description There are two subsystems: 1) SWEEP (Solar Wind Electron Energy Probe) to measure the solar wind and interplanetary electron distribution functions in the energy range 0.01-3 keV, and 2) SWICAR (Solar Wind Ion Composition Analyzer) to measure the kinetic temperatures and mean speeds of all major ion species in the mass range of 1-3 amu (atomic mass unit).
Background New development
Scanning Technique Not described
Resolution N/A
Coverage / Cycle Continuous monitoring from the L1 position
Mass Power Data Rate

 

Providing Agency ISRO
Instrument Maturity Flown on an R&D satellite
Utilization Period: 2024 to 2028
Last update: 2021-10-02
Detailed characteristics
Satellites this instrument is flying on

Note: a red tag indicates satellites no longer operational, a green tag indicates operational satellites, a blue tag indicates future satellites

Instrument classification
  • Solar and space environment monitors
  • Energetic particle spectrometer
WIGOS Subcomponents
  • Subcomponent 1
  • Solar wind in situ plasma and energetic particles, magnetic field, at L1
  • Solar wind at L1 - Electron sensor
  • Solar wind at L1 - Proton sensor
  • Solar wind at L1 - Alpha-particle sensor
  • Solar wind at L1 - Heavy ion sensor
  • Solar wind at L1 - Plasma density sensor
  • Solar wind at L1 - Plasma temperature sensor
  • Solar wind at L1 - Plasma velocity sensor
Mission objectives
Primary mission objectives
  • Solar wind density
  • Solar wind temperature
  • Solar wind velocity
Evaluation of Measurements

The following list indicates which measurements can typically be retrieved from this category of instrument. To see a full Gap Analysis by Variable, click on the respective variable.

Note: table can be sorted by clicking on the column headers
Note: * Primary mission objective.
VariableRelevance for measuring this variableOperational limitationsExplanation
Electron differential directional flux3 - highNo specific limitation.Interplanetary space, low energy (up to 40 keV)
Proton differential directional flux3 - highNo specific limitation.Interplanetary space, low energy (up to 40 keV)
Alpha particles differential directional flux2 - very highNo specific limitation.Interplanetary space. Low-medium energy range (<10 up to 100 MeV/n)
Solar wind density*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.Interplanetary space. Infrerred from Proton. Electron and Alpha-particle spectroscopy
Solar wind temperature*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.Interplanetary space. Infrerred from Proton. Electron and Alpha-particle spectroscopy
Solar wind velocity*1 - primaryNo specific limitation.Interplanetary space. Infrerred from Proton. Electron and Alpha-particle spectroscopy
Heavy ion flux energy and mass spectrum4 - fairNo specific limitation.Interplanetary space. Low-medium energy range (<10 up to 100 MeV/n)