Abstract
This paper describes the development of the fluxgate magnetometer on the
Fengyun-4B satellite. The Fengyun-4 is the second generation of China’s
geostationary orbit satellite with the function of monitoring the space
environment in GEO orbit. A fluxgate magnetometer (FGM) is deployed on
this satellite to observe the magnetic field as a necessary input to
space weather forecasting. This payload adopts three 3-axis fluxgate
sensors to obtain space magnetic field data by excluding the satellite’s
interference. Each three-axis fluxgate sensor has an independent signal
processing circuit. FGM uses digital signal processing technology to
acquire magnetic field signals. First, the analog signal is oversampled
using a high-speed ADC, then digital signal processing, such as
phase-sensitive demodulation, integration, and filtering, is performed
inside the FPGA, and the feedback signal is output to the feedback coil
through the DAC. This signal processing loop constitutes an ADC system,
and the quantization accuracy of the output digital quantity can reach
18 bits. the FGM performs in-orbit calibration during satellite rotation
maneuver and Alfven wave events. Comparison with the GOES-16 satellite
and Tsyganenko magnetic field model proves FGM to be effective in
monitoring the magnetic field of the space environment. Through joint
observations with GOES-16 satellite and geomagnetic stations, FY-4B
describes the development of a typical magnetic storm on November 4,
2021. The Ground calibration and in-orbit preliminary results show the
FY-4B satellite magnetometer outputs 20 bits of digital resolution data
at a 30 Hz sampling rate, with the noise lower than 3×10-4nT2/Hz@1Hz in
the ±600nT range.