A simulation analysis of systematic errors in ion arrival angle and drift velocity from the satellite borne ion drift meter Original Research Article

As one payload of a Chinese seismic satellite program, an ion drift meter (IDM) will measure drift velocity of thermal ions at an altitude of 500 km. Previous works have shown that such instruments use biased grids to create nonuniform potential in the grid planes, which brings systematic errors to the inferred parameters. A commercial finite element analysis software is used to simulate this instrument in the exact size. The error sources from thermal velocity, nonuniform transparency of real grids and potential depression in the grid planes are explained. The simulation results show that the arrival angle and drift velocity will be underestimated in all the conditions and the maximal error will be about −0.87° and −121 m/s, respectively. Furthermore, the relative error of the inferred arrival angle and the drift velocity will be inversely correlated with the arrival angle because of the lensing effect of the potential depression. This simulation provides a quantificational method of evaluating and correcting the data during in situ operation.