Demeter (satellite)

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DEMETER (Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions) was a French micro-satellite operated by CNES devoted to the investigation of the ionospheric disturbances due to seismic and volcanic activity.

Contents

It was launched on June 29, 2004, on a quasi Sun-synchronous circular orbit with an inclination of about 98.23° and an altitude of about 710 km. The altitude was changed to about 660 km in December 2005.

Due to the specific orbit, DEMETER was always located either shortly before the local noon (10:30 local time) or local midnight (22:30 local time). The satellite performs 14 orbits per day and measures continuously between -65° and +65° of invariant latitude. [1]

DEMETER observed an increase in ultra low frequency radio waves in the month before the 2010 Haiti earthquake. [2]

During the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi, DEMETER noted anomalies in the ionosphere. [3]

Scientific operations ended December 9, 2010. [4]

Scientific Objectives

Scientific Payload

Modes of Operation

Due to the limited capacity of the telemetry, there were two different modes of operation:

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References

  1. Lagoutte et al. "The DEMETER Science Mission Centre". Planetary and Space Science 54 (2006) 428-440.
  2. Athanasiou, M. A.; Anagnostopoulos, G. C.; Iliopoulos, A. C.; Pavlos, G. P.; David, C. N. (11 April 2011). "Enhanced ULF radiation observed by DEMETER two months around the strong 2010 Haiti earthquake". Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences. 11 (4): 1091–1098. arXiv: 1012.1533 . Bibcode:2011NHESS..11.1091A. doi: 10.5194/nhess-11-1091-2011 . S2CID   53456663.
  3. Zlotnicki, Jacques; Li, Feng; Parrot, Michel (2013). "Ionospheric Disturbances Recorded by DEMETER Satellite over Active Volcanoes: From August 2004 to December 2010" (PDF). International Journal of Geophysics. 2013: 1–17. doi: 10.1155/2013/530865 .
  4. "DEMETER DATA SERVER".