Magnetic gradiometry using frequency-domain filtering

Abstract Accurate measurements of ambient planetary and interplanetary magnetic fields using spacecraft magnetometers typically require accounting for interfering generated by the flight system (FS). The most common method removing FS-generated time-variable is narrow-band low-pass filtering field data in frequency domain. However, if fluctuations contain frequencies overlapping those FS field, it can be difficult to construct a filter that will not affect both signals. Here we present an alternate signatures from measurements. For make use gradiometer (i.e. with two or more instruments on boom at different distances center spacecraft), dominant identified spectra differenced components. amplitudes then suppressed without spectral peaks field. We demonstrate successful application this method, referred as gradiometry peak suppression, modeled sets 128 Hz Venus Express magnetometer data.