TY - JOUR
T1 - The BepiColombo Environment Radiation Monitor, BERM
AU - Pinto, Marco
AU - Sanchez-Cano, Beatriz
AU - Moissl, Richard
AU - Benkhoff, Johannes
AU - Cardoso, Carlota
AU - Gonçalves, Patrícia
AU - Assis, Pedro
AU - Vainio, Rami
AU - Oleynik, Philipp
AU - Lehtolainen, Arto
AU - Grande, Manuel
AU - Marques, Arlindo
N1 - Funding Information:
B.S.-C. acknowledges support through STFC Ernest Rutherford Fellowship ST/V004115/1 and STFC grants ST/V000209/1 and ST/W00089X/1.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022, The Author(s).
PY - 2022/9/21
Y1 - 2022/9/21
N2 - The BepiColombo Environment Radiation Monitor (BERM) on board the European Space Agency’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), is designed to measure the radiation environment encountered by BepiColombo. The instrument measures electrons with energies from ∼150 keV to ∼10 MeV, protons with energies from ∼1.5 MeV to ∼100 MeV, and heavy ions with Linear Energy Transfer from 1 to 50 MeV⋅mg−1⋅cm2. BERM is operated continuously, being responsible for monitoring the radiation levels during all phases of the mission, including the cruise, the planetary flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury, and the Hermean environment. In this paper, we describe the scientific objectives, instrument design and calibration, and the in-flight scientific performance of BERM. Moreover, we provide the first scientific results obtained by BERM during the BepiColombo flyby of Earth in April 2020, and after the impact of a solar energetic particle event during the cruise phase in May 2021. We also discuss the future plans of the instrument including synergies with other instruments on the BepiColombo and on other missions.
AB - The BepiColombo Environment Radiation Monitor (BERM) on board the European Space Agency’s Mercury Planetary Orbiter (MPO), is designed to measure the radiation environment encountered by BepiColombo. The instrument measures electrons with energies from ∼150 keV to ∼10 MeV, protons with energies from ∼1.5 MeV to ∼100 MeV, and heavy ions with Linear Energy Transfer from 1 to 50 MeV⋅mg−1⋅cm2. BERM is operated continuously, being responsible for monitoring the radiation levels during all phases of the mission, including the cruise, the planetary flybys of Earth, Venus and Mercury, and the Hermean environment. In this paper, we describe the scientific objectives, instrument design and calibration, and the in-flight scientific performance of BERM. Moreover, we provide the first scientific results obtained by BERM during the BepiColombo flyby of Earth in April 2020, and after the impact of a solar energetic particle event during the cruise phase in May 2021. We also discuss the future plans of the instrument including synergies with other instruments on the BepiColombo and on other missions.
KW - BepiColombo
KW - BERM
KW - Cruise science
KW - Energetic particles
KW - Mercury
KW - Radiation monitor
KW - Solar flares
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85138460968&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1007/s11214-022-00922-2
DO - 10.1007/s11214-022-00922-2
M3 - Review Article
SN - 0038-6308
VL - 218
JO - Space Science Reviews
JF - Space Science Reviews
IS - 7
M1 - 54
ER -