Low-cost and low-size-weight-and-power (SWaP) magnetometers can provide greater accessibility for distributed simultaneous measurements in the ionosphere, either onboard sounding rockets or on CubeSats. The Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Laboratory (SAIL) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has launched a multitude of sounding rockets in recent history: one night-time mid-latitude rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in August 2022 and three mid-latitude rockets from White Sands Missile Range during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse. All rockets had a comprehensive suite of instruments for electrodynamics and neutral dynamics measurements. Among this suite was one science-grade three-axis fluxgate magnetometer (Billingsley TFM65VQS / TFM100G2) and up to six commercial-off-the-shelf magnetometers (PNI RM3100) distributed between the main payload and up to four ejectable subpayloads per rocket. These low-cost and low SWaP magnetometers can achieve a resolution of approximately 1 nT and a precision of +/-4 nT (one sigma) at 15 Hz in the absence of environmental noise. This performance is sufficient for measuring currents that flow in the E-region ionosphere. This thesis will cover the magnetometer calibration process used for these sounding rocket missions, the calibration results, and some analysis of the flight data. For the first time, distributed multi-point and temporally-spaced in-situ magnetometer measurements have been recorded during a solar eclipse, providing the first chance to observe the time-dependent effect of the eclipse shadow on the local vertical structure of the solar quiet (Sq) current.
","abstract_html":"<p>Low-cost and low-size-weight-and-power (SWaP) magnetometers can provide greater accessibility for distributed simultaneous measurements in the ionosphere, either onboard sounding rockets or on CubeSats. The Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Laboratory (SAIL) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has launched a multitude of sounding rockets in recent history: one night-time mid-latitude rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in August 2022 and three mid-latitude rockets from White Sands Missile Range during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse. All rockets had a comprehensive suite of instruments for electrodynamics and neutral dynamics measurements. Among this suite was one science-grade three-axis fluxgate magnetometer (Billingsley TFM65VQS / TFM100G2) and up to six commercial-off-the-shelf magnetometers (PNI RM3100) distributed between the main payload and up to four ejectable subpayloads per rocket. These low-cost and low SWaP magnetometers can achieve a resolution of approximately 1 nT and a precision of +/-4 nT (one sigma) at 15 Hz in the absence of environmental noise. This performance is sufficient for measuring currents that flow in the E-region ionosphere. This thesis will cover the magnetometer calibration process used for these sounding rocket missions, the calibration results, and some analysis of the flight data. For the first time, distributed multi-point and temporally-spaced in-situ magnetometer measurements have been recorded during a solar eclipse, providing the first chance to observe the time-dependent effect of the eclipse shadow on the local vertical structure of the solar quiet (Sq) current.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Milford, Joshua W"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Science in Engineering Physics","degree_level":"Thesis - Open Access","degree_discipline":"Physical Sciences","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2024,"date_issued":"2024-04-01T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2024-04-01T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:10Z","subjects":["aroh barjatya","robert clayton","kristina lynch","NSROC","NASA","E region","Es","Sporadic E","APEP","SEED","Atmospheric Sciences","Electrical and Electronics","Engineering Physics","Signal Processing"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://commons.erau.edu/edt/795","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Milford, Joshua W"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Physical Sciences"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis - Open Access"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Science in Engineering Physics"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["aroh barjatya","robert clayton","kristina lynch","NSROC","NASA","E region","Es","Sporadic E","APEP","SEED","Atmospheric Sciences","Electrical and Electronics","Engineering Physics","Signal Processing"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/795"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["Low-cost and low-size-weight-and-power (SWaP) magnetometers can provide greater accessibility for distributed simultaneous measurements in the ionosphere, either onboard sounding rockets or on CubeSats. The Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Laboratory (SAIL) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has launched a multitude of sounding rockets in recent history: one night-time mid-latitude rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in August 2022 and three mid-latitude rockets from White Sands Missile Range during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse. All rockets had a comprehensive suite of instruments for electrodynamics and neutral dynamics measurements. Among this suite was one science-grade three-axis fluxgate magnetometer (Billingsley TFM65VQS / TFM100G2) and up to six commercial-off-the-shelf magnetometers (PNI RM3100) distributed between the main payload and up to four ejectable subpayloads per rocket. These low-cost and low SWaP magnetometers can achieve a resolution of approximately 1 nT and a precision of +/-4 nT (one sigma) at 15 Hz in the absence of environmental noise. This performance is sufficient for measuring currents that flow in the E-region ionosphere. This thesis will cover the magnetometer calibration process used for these sounding rocket missions, the calibration results, and some analysis of the flight data. For the first time, distributed multi-point and temporally-spaced in-situ magnetometer measurements have been recorded during a solar eclipse, providing the first chance to observe the time-dependent effect of the eclipse shadow on the local vertical structure of the solar quiet (Sq) current.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Low Cost Magnetometer Calibration and Distributed Simultaneous Multipoint Ionospheric Measurements from a Sounding Rocket Platform"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Milford, Joshua W"],"dc:description.abstract":["Low-cost and low-size-weight-and-power (SWaP) magnetometers can provide greater accessibility for distributed simultaneous measurements in the ionosphere, either onboard sounding rockets or on CubeSats. The Space and Atmospheric Instrumentation Laboratory (SAIL) at Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University has launched a multitude of sounding rockets in recent history: one night-time mid-latitude rocket from Wallops Flight Facility in August 2022 and three mid-latitude rockets from White Sands Missile Range during the October 2023 annular solar eclipse. All rockets had a comprehensive suite of instruments for electrodynamics and neutral dynamics measurements. Among this suite was one science-grade three-axis fluxgate magnetometer (Billingsley TFM65VQS / TFM100G2) and up to six commercial-off-the-shelf magnetometers (PNI RM3100) distributed between the main payload and up to four ejectable subpayloads per rocket. These low-cost and low SWaP magnetometers can achieve a resolution of approximately 1 nT and a precision of +/-4 nT (one sigma) at 15 Hz in the absence of environmental noise. This performance is sufficient for measuring currents that flow in the E-region ionosphere. This thesis will cover the magnetometer calibration process used for these sounding rocket missions, the calibration results, and some analysis of the flight data. For the first time, distributed multi-point and temporally-spaced in-situ magnetometer measurements have been recorded during a solar eclipse, providing the first chance to observe the time-dependent effect of the eclipse shadow on the local vertical structure of the solar quiet (Sq) current.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://commons.erau.edu/edt/795"],"dc:subject":["aroh barjatya","robert clayton","kristina lynch","NSROC","NASA","E region","Es","Sporadic E","APEP","SEED","Atmospheric Sciences","Electrical and Electronics","Engineering Physics","Signal Processing"],"dc:title":["Low Cost Magnetometer Calibration and Distributed Simultaneous Multipoint Ionospheric Measurements from a Sounding Rocket Platform"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Physical Sciences"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis - Open Access"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Science in Engineering Physics"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-27T19:25:10Z"}