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Geospace Exploration by the ERG mission

The ERG project (Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace) is a geospace exploration project to elucidate acceleration, transportation and loss of energetic electrons in the radiation belts and dynamics of geospace storms. The projects consist of JAXA’s satellite mission, ground-based observations and simulation and modeling studies and provide a comprehensive picture of dynamical evolutions of the inner magnetosphere. The ERG project contributes to the international fleet of geospace satellites as well as ground-based network observations, which realize multi point observations in geospace. The ERG satellite will be launched in FY 2016, and initial observation data will arrive after the launch.

This special issue focuses on all science instruments of the ERG satellite and their initial results. The issue includes the papers on the satellite systems and also focuses on overview of the ground-based observations, simulation studies, and science center activities of the ERG project.

Edited by: Tsugunobu Nagai, Barry Mauk, Ondrej Santolik, Takashi Kubota, Takeshi Sakanoi

  1. The extremely high-energy electron experiment (XEP) onboard the Arase (ERG) satellite is designed to measure high-energy electrons in the Earth’s radiation belts. The XEP was developed by taking advantage of o...

    Authors: Nana Higashio, Takeshi Takashima, Iku Shinohara and Haruhisa Matsumoto
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:134
  2. The exploration of energization and radiation in geospace (ERG) satellite, nicknamed “Arase,” is the second satellite in a series of small scientific satellites created by the Institute of Space and Astronauti...

    Authors: Yosuke Nakamura, Seisuke Fukuda, Yasuko Shibano, Hiroyuki Ogawa, Shin-ichiro Sakai, Shigehito Shimizu, Ersin Soken, Yu Miyazawa, Hiroyuki Toyota, Akio Kukita, Yusuke Maru, Junichi Nakatsuka, Tomohiko Sakai, Shinsuke Takeuchi, Kenichiro Maki, Makoto Mita…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:102
  3. The Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG) project explores the acceleration, transport, and loss of relativistic electrons in the radiation belts and the dynamics for geospace storms. Thi...

    Authors: Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Iku Shinohara, Takeshi Takashima, Kazushi Asamura, Nana Higashio, Takefumi Mitani, Satoshi Kasahara, Shoichiro Yokota, Yoichi Kazama, Shiang-Yu Wang, Sunny W. Y. Tam, Paul T. P. Ho, Yoshiya Kasahara, Yasumasa Kasaba, Satoshi Yagitani, Ayako Matsuoka…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:101
  4. The Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG) Science Center serves as a hub of the ERG project, providing data files in a common format and developing the space physics environment data anal...

    Authors: Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Tomoaki Hori, Masafumi Shoji, Mariko Teramoto, T. F. Chang, Tomonori Segawa, Norio Umemura, Shoya Matsuda, Satoshi Kurita, Kunihiro Keika, Yukinaga Miyashita, Kanako Seki, Yoshimasa Tanaka, Nozomu Nishitani, Satoshi Kasahara, Shoichiro Yokota…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:96
  5. The Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace (ERG) project aims to study acceleration and loss mechanisms of relativistic electrons around the Earth. The Arase (ERG) satellite was launched on Dece...

    Authors: Yoshiya Kasahara, Yasumasa Kasaba, Hirotsugu Kojima, Satoshi Yagitani, Keigo Ishisaka, Atsushi Kumamoto, Fuminori Tsuchiya, Mitsunori Ozaki, Shoya Matsuda, Tomohiko Imachi, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Mitsuru Hikishima, Yuto Katoh, Mamoru Ota, Masafumi Shoji, Ayako Matsuoka…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:86
  6. The High Frequency Analyzer (HFA) is a subsystem of the Plasma Wave Experiment onboard the Arase (ERG) spacecraft. The main purposes of the HFA include (1) determining the electron number density around the sp...

    Authors: Atsushi Kumamoto, Fuminori Tsuchiya, Yoshiya Kasahara, Yasumasa Kasaba, Hirotsugu Kojima, Satoshi Yagitani, Keigo Ishisaka, Tomohiko Imachi, Mitsunori Ozaki, Shoya Matsuda, Masafumi Shoji, Aayako Matsuoka, Yuto Katoh, Yoshizumi Miyoshi and Takahiro Obara
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:82
  7. The software-type wave–particle interaction analyzer (S-WPIA) is an instrument package onboard the Arase satellite, which studies the magnetosphere. The S-WPIA represents a new method for directly observing wa...

    Authors: Mitsuru Hikishima, Hirotsugu Kojima, Yuto Katoh, Yoshiya Kasahara, Satoshi Kasahara, Takefumi Mitani, Nana Higashio, Ayako Matsuoka, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Kazushi Asamura, Takeshi Takashima, Shoichiro Yokota, Masahiro Kitahara and Shoya Matsuda
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:80
  8. This paper reports the design, calibration, and operation of high-energy electron experiments (HEP) aboard the exploration of energization and radiation in geospace (ERG) satellite. HEP detects 70 keV–2 MeV el...

    Authors: Takefumi Mitani, Takeshi Takashima, Satoshi Kasahara, Wataru Miyake and Masafumi Hirahara
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:77
  9. This paper presents detailed performance values of the Magnetic Search Coil (MSC) that is part of the Plasma Wave Experiment on board the Arase (ERG) satellite. The MSC consists of a three-axis search coil mag...

    Authors: Mitsunori Ozaki, Satoshi Yagitani, Yoshiya Kasahara, Hirotsugu Kojima, Yasumasa Kasaba, Atsushi Kumamoto, Fuminori Tsuchiya, Shoya Matsuda, Ayako Matsuoka, Takashi Sasaki and Takahiro Yumoto
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:76
  10. We developed the onboard processing software for the Plasma Wave Experiment (PWE) onboard the Exploration of energization and Radiation in Geospace, Arase satellite. The PWE instrument has three receivers: El...

    Authors: Shoya Matsuda, Yoshiya Kasahara, Hirotsugu Kojima, Yasumasa Kasaba, Satoshi Yagitani, Mitsunori Ozaki, Tomohiko Imachi, Keigo Ishisaka, Atsushi Kumamoto, Fuminori Tsuchiya, Mamoru Ota, Satoshi Kurita, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Mitsuru Hikishima, Ayako Matsuoka and Iku Shinohara
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:75
  11. Arase is a small scientific satellite program conducted by the Institute of Space and Astronautical Science/Japan Aerospace Exploration Agency, which is dedicated to the detailed study of the radiation belts a...

    Authors: Takeshi Takashima, Emiko Ogawa, Kazushi Asamura and Mitsuru Hikishima
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:71
  12. The medium-energy particle experiments—electron analyzer onboard the exploration of energization and radiation in geospace spacecraft measures the energy and direction of each incoming electron in the energy r...

    Authors: Satoshi Kasahara, Shoichiro Yokota, Takefumi Mitani, Kazushi Asamura, Masafumi Hirahara, Yasuko Shibano and Takeshi Takashima
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:69
  13. The fluxgate magnetometer for the Arase (ERG) spacecraft mission was built to investigate particle acceleration processes in the inner magnetosphere. Precise measurements of the field intensity and direction a...

    Authors: Ayako Matsuoka, Mariko Teramoto, Reiko Nomura, Masahito Nosé, Akiko Fujimoto, Yoshimasa Tanaka, Manabu Shinohara, Tsutomu Nagatsuma, Kazuo Shiokawa, Yuki Obana, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Makoto Mita, Takeshi Takashima and Iku Shinohara
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:43
  14. Understanding of underlying mechanisms of drastic variations of the near-Earth space (geospace) is one of the current focuses of the magnetospheric physics. The science target of the geospace research project ...

    Authors: Kanako Seki, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Yusuke Ebihara, Yuto Katoh, Takanobu Amano, Shinji Saito, Masafumi Shoji, Aoi Nakamizo, Kunihiro Keika, Tomoaki Hori, Shin’ya Nakano, Shigeto Watanabe, Kei Kamiya, Naoko Takahashi, Yoshiharu Omura, Masahito Nose…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:17
  15. We describe the principles of the Wave–Particle Interaction Analyzer (WPIA) and the implementation of the Software-type WPIA (S-WPIA) on the Arase satellite. The WPIA is a new type of instrument for the direct...

    Authors: Yuto Katoh, Hirotsugu Kojima, Mitsuru Hikishima, Takeshi Takashima, Kazushi Asamura, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Yoshiya Kasahara, Satoshi Kasahara, Takefumi Mitani, Nana Higashio, Ayako Matsuoka, Mitsunori Ozaki, Satoshi Yagitani, Shoichiro Yokota, Shoya Matsuda, Masahiro Kitahara…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2018 70:4
  16. This paper summarizes the specifications and initial evaluation results of Wire Probe Antenna (WPT) and Electric Field Detector (EFD), the key components for the electric field measurement of the Plasma Wave E...

    Authors: Yasumasa Kasaba, Keigo Ishisaka, Yoshiya Kasahara, Tomohiko Imachi, Satoshi Yagitani, Hirotsugu Kojima, Shoya Matsuda, Masafumi Shoji, Satoshi Kurita, Tomoaki Hori, Atsuki Shinbori, Mariko Teramoto, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Tomoko Nakagawa, Naoko Takahashi, Yukitoshi Nishimura…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2017 69:174
  17. The medium-energy particle experiments–ion mass analyzer (MEP-i) was developed for the exploration of energization and radiation in geospace (ERG) mission (Arase), in order to measure the three-dimensional dis...

    Authors: Shoichiro Yokota, Satoshi Kasahara, Takefumi Mitani, Kazushi Asamura, Masafumi Hirahara, Takeshi Takashima, Kazuhiro Yamamoto and Yasuko Shibano
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2017 69:172
  18. This paper introduces ISEE_3D, an interactive visualization tool for three-dimensional plasma velocity distribution functions, developed by the Institute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya Universi...

    Authors: Kunihiro Keika, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Shinobu Machida, Akimasa Ieda, Kanako Seki, Tomoaki Hori, Yukinaga Miyashita, Masafumi Shoji, Iku Shinohara, Vassilis Angelopoulos, Jim W. Lewis and Aaron Flores
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2017 69:170
  19. In this report, we describe the low-energy electron instrument LEPe (low-energy particle experiments–electron analyzer) onboard the Arase (ERG) spacecraft. The instrument measures a three-dimensional distribut...

    Authors: Yoichi Kazama, Bo-Jhou Wang, Shiang-Yu Wang, Paul T. P. Ho, Sunny W. Y. Tam, Tzu-Fang Chang, Chih-Yu Chiang and Kazushi Asamura
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2017 69:165
  20. The plasmas (electrons and ions) in the inner magnetosphere have wide energy ranges from electron volts to mega-electron volts (MeV). These plasmas rotate around the Earth longitudinally due to the gradient an...

    Authors: Kazuo Shiokawa, Yasuo Katoh, Yoshiyuki Hamaguchi, Yuka Yamamoto, Takumi Adachi, Mitsunori Ozaki, Shin-Ichiro Oyama, Masahito Nosé, Tsutomu Nagatsuma, Yoshimasa Tanaka, Yuichi Otsuka, Yoshizumi Miyoshi, Ryuho Kataoka, Yuki Takagi, Yuhei Takeshita, Atsuki Shinbori…
    Citation: Earth, Planets and Space 2017 69:160