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Total electron content (TEC)


Measurement Definition*: Number of electrons in between two points. Observed under more viewing angles so as to generate profiles by tomography - Physical unit: [ electrons/m2 ]; practical unit: TECU = 1016 electrons/m2 - Accuracy unit: [ % ].
InstrumentStatus/
Accuracy
Instrument DescriptionMeasurement TechnologyTimeline
ES
Electron Spectrometer
Operational
Space Physics experiment for meausring speed and direction of electrons coming from the sun.n/a
m-NLP
multi-Needle Langmuir Probe
Operational
m-NLP measures the plasma around the Earth at a higher resolution than other Langmuir probe instruments that have been flown in space.n/a
RF Beacon
Radio Frequency Beacon
Operational
Transmitter that enables ground-based measurement of ionospheric scintillation and ionospheric total electron content (TEC). Critical to understanding the impacts of space weather on satellite communication systems and GPS.n/a
SEM (GOES)
Space Environment Monitor
Operational
Used for equipment failure analysis, solar flux measurement, solar storm warning, and magnetic and electric field measurement at satellite.n/a
SEM (POES)
Space Environment Monitor
Operational
Used for equipment failure analysis, solar flux measurement, solar storm warning, and magnetic and electric field measurement at satellite.n/a
SSI/ES-3
Special Sensor Ionospheric Plasma Drift/Scintillation Meter
Operational
Measurement of the ambient electron density and temperatures, the ambient ion density, and ion temperature and molecular weight.n/a
SWS/SEM/HEPD
Space Weather Suite / Space Environment Monitor/ High Energy Particle Detector
Operational
Energetic particle spectrometer: Spectrometer for electrons (0.25-2.0 MeV), protons (6.4-38 MeV) and alpha-particles (15-60 MeV)n/a
SWS/SEM/IMS 
Space Weather Suite / Space Environment Monitor / Ionosphere Measurement Sensor
Operational
To measure ionospheric electron temperature and density, and platform charge and dose. Specially arranged Langmuir Probe for electron temperature (0-1 eV) and density in the 10- 10^6 e/cm3 rangen/a
SXI
Solar X-ray Imager
Operational
Obtains data on structure of solar corona. Full disk imagery also provides warnings of geomagnetic storms, solar flares, and information on active regions of sun and filaments.n/a
Liulin-AR
256 channels Spectrometer
Approved
Deposited energy from primary and secondary particles - Radiation environmentn/a
* Description adapted from WMO.
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