NASA’s Origins, Spectral Interpretation, Resource Identification, and Security-Regolith Ex- plorer (OSIRIS-REx) spacecraft arrived at the near-Earth rubble pile asteroid (101955) Bennu in December 2018, where it took high resolution images of the surface. The im- ages revealed that the surface is covered with boulders of various sizes. The morphology of these boulders can provide valuable information about the body’s history and the mechanical properties of the regolith. In this work, I use OSIRIS-REx images to map the outline of boul- ders on Bennu in two different geologic units: a Rugged Unit and a Smooth Unit. The two units are differentiated by surface texture, shape features and geologic features. This work was implemented using the open-source software QGIS. I compare the two units’ boulder morphology firstly in terms of boulder roughness by looking at the shape factors solidity (to what extent a boulder’s area equals that of its convex hull area) and circularity (to what extent a boulder’s perimeter is similar to the circumference of a circle with the same area). Then I study boulder compactness, by looking at the shape factors elongation (the ratio between its minor and major axis) and roundness (to what extent a boulder’s area resembles that of a circle enclosing the boulder). Despite the geologic differences, I find that there is no significant difference in the boulder roughness and compactness between the two units. Both regions’ boulders possess a large variation of values that overlap significantly. My results match well with laboratory impact experiments, implying that the regolith was created by a catastrophic impact, which is in agreement with Bennu’s status as a rubble-pile asteroid. I also find that the Smooth Unit tends to have smaller boulders (0.579 ± 0.35 m) with more boulders mapped (total 2426) than the Rugged Unit (0.711 ± 0.48 m, total 1774 boulders mapped). Finally, I show that smaller boulders tend to be rounder and less rough than larger boulders in both units. My results imply that boulder morphology is relatively uniform over the surface of Bennu, also indicating that the mechanical material properties associated with the boulder shape (such as for example tensile strength of the assembly, bulk porosity and formation history) are similar in the two units. Although the units are geologically distinct, the boulder morphology is homogeneous.

Between August 6, 2014 and September 30, 2016, the Rosetta spacecraft orbited the comet 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko with the purpose of observing the comet’s nucleus and the surrounding environment. The Rosetta spacecraft collected different types of data with a number of instruments, for example the Rosetta Plasma Consortium (RPC) instruments, that measured the plasma environment of the comet, and the ROSINA Comet Pressure Sensor (COPS), that measured the neutral gas environment. The aim of this study is to produce Python code to generate overview plots of data collected by the following RPC instruments: the Ion Composition Analyzer (ICA), the Ion and Electron Sensor (IES), the Fluxgate Magnetometer (MAG), the Mutual Impedance Probe (MIP), the Langmuir Probe (LAP), and the ROSINA-COPS instrument. The measurements taken by these instruments, describing the electrical, magnetic and physical properties of the plasma and gas in the cometary coma, have rarely before been visualized with uniform time axes in joint figures. A simultaneous representation of the data enables further analysis of the correlation of the instruments and of how the different plasma parameters interact in the comet’s environment. For all instruments, except ICA, the data was retrieved from ESA’s Planetary Science Archive (PSA). In the case of the ICA instrument, the data files were retrieved from IRF Kiruna’s database. The relevant data was identified and subsequently processed with various methods, such as summing over rows and columns, merging files and scaling parameters, and finally plotted in a common overview plot. The final result was a code that produces overview plots of measurements from the RPC instruments and the ROSINA-COPS instrument. With this code, overview plots of each day of the whole Rosetta mission could be generated. These overview plots are accessible through the Swedish Institute of Space Physics for future scientific use.

Le but de cette thèse est d'améliorer les techniques d'analyse de données de la réflectométrie à balayage de fréquence pour la détermination du profil de densité des plasmas de fusion. Au cours des deux dernières décennies, des améliorations significatives ont été apportées sur la partie matérielle et sur d'extraction des signaux, mais l'analyse des données est en retard et nécessite d'autres améliorations pour répondre aux spécifications exigées pour un fonctionnement en continu des futurs réacteurs. Les améliorations obtenues lors de ce travail de thèse sur la reconstruction des profils de densité fournissent une meilleure précision en un temps plus court ceci même en présence de trou de densité conduisant à une mesure des propriétés de la turbulence suffisamment précise pour valider des modèles numériques et permettant la surveillance en temps réel de la forme et de la position du plasma / The goal of this PhD is to improve the data analysis techniques of frequency swept reflectometry for determination of the density profile of fusion plasmas. There has been significant improvements in the last two decades on the hardware design and signal extraction techniques, but the data analysis is lagging behind and require further improvements to meet the required standards for continuous operation in future reactors. The improvements obtained in this thesis on the reconstruction of density profiles provide a better accuracy in a shorter time, even in the presence of a density hole, also enabling sufficiently precise measurements of the properties of turbulence used to validate numerical models, and allowing real-time monitoring of the shape and position of the plasma

The main objective of this thesis is to model the magneticstructure of interplanetary coronal mass ejections (ICME) measuredin-situ from the WIND spacecraft positioned at L1. The modeling isdone by a magnetohydrodynamic reconstruction technique based onthe GS equation with a toroidal geometry. The purpose has been toextend the application of the reconstruction program to real dataand to test its performance when different input parameters arechanged. Two events are presented; 16-17 May 2012 and 15-16 May2005 ICMEs have been successfully reconstructed with this model. The main achievements of the study are that a) the code now worksfor real data b) the important parameters that can be changed fordifferent reconstructions in the code are the number of iterationsused to find the optimal Z-axis, the plasma pressure and the orderof the polynomial fitting of the flux functional, c) if all crosssection reconstructions for different variations of theseparameters strongly resembles each other then this is anindication that the model approximation is good and that the fluxrope exists. The results have been compared and verified withpreviously published studies of these events. Using a toroidal geometry for the GS reconstruction method weobtain very similar results to the one obtained with differentreconstruction techniques.This implies that at L1, the ICMEs haveexpanded so much that a cylindrical geometry is sufficient todescribe the flux rope geometry. The toroidal Grad-Shafranovreconstruction technique is best suited for circular, or slightlyelongated, flux rope cross section profiles but have been provento work for one complex ejecta consisting of two merged fluxropes. The toroidal model might become an important asset in thefuture when data from spacecraft closer to the Sun, such as ParkerSolar Probe and Solar Orbiter, is public. When the major radius ofthe flux rope is smaller the choice of geometry will most likelyhave a larger role than for measurements at L1 and so, thetoroidal Grad-Shafranov reconstruction technique will probably bethe better alternative of the models that exists today.

The purpose of this project is to investigate the spectral properties of turbulence in the magnetosheath of Saturn, using in-situ magnetic field measurements from the Cassini spacecraft. According to models of incompressible, turbulent fluids, the energy spectrum in the inertial range scales as the frequency to the power of -5/3, which has been observed in the near-Earth Solar wind but not in the Terrestrial magnetosheath unless close to the magnetopause. 120 time intervals for when Cassini is inside the magnetosheath are identified — 40 in each category of behind quasi-perpendicular bow shocks, behind quasi-parallel bow shocks, and inside the middle of the magnetosheath. The power spectral density is thereafter calculated for each interval, with logarithmic regressions performed at the MHD and sub-ion scales separated by the ion gyrofrequency. The results seem to indicate similar behaviour as in the magnetosheath of Earth, without significant difference between quasi-perpendicular and quasi-parallel cases except somewhat steeper exponents at the MHD scale for the former. These observations confirm the role of the bow shock in destroying the fully developed turbulence of the Solar wind, thus explaining the absence of the inertial range. / Syftet med detta projekt är att undersöka de spektrala egenskaperna hos turbulens i Saturnus magnetoskikt, med in-situ-mätningar av magnetfältet från Cassini-rymdsonden. Enligt modeller av inkompressibla, turbulenta fluider, är energispektrumet i det intertiala omfånget proportionellt mot frekvensen upphöjd i -5/3, vilket har observerats i den jordnära Solvinden men inte i det jordiska magnetoskiktet förutom nära magnetopausen. 120 tidsintervall för när Cassini befinner sig inuti magnetoskiktet identifieras — 40 styck i kategorierna bakom kvasi-vinkelräta bogchockar, bakom kvasi-parallella bogchockar, och inuti mellersta delen av magnetoskiktet. Effektspektraltätheten beräknas därefter för varje intervall, med logaritmiska regressioner på MHD- och subjon-skalorna som separeras av jongyrofrekvensen. Resultaten verkar tyda på liknande beteende som i Jordens magnetoskikt, utan märkvärdig skillnad mellan kvasi-vinkelräta och kvasi-parallella fall förutom något brantare exponenter på MHD-skalan för de förnämnda. Dessa observationer bekräftar bogchokens roll i förstörandet av den fullt utvecklade turbulensen i Solvinden, därmed förklarande avsaknaden av det inertiala omfånget.

Shock waves are ubiquitous in space and astrophysics. Shocks transform directed particle flow energy into thermal energy. As the major part of space is a collisionless medium, shocks in space physics arises through wave-particle interactions with the magnetic field as the main contributor.The heating processes are scale dependent. The large scale processes governs the ion heating and is well described by magnetohydrodynamics. The small scale processes governs the electron heating lies within the field of kinetic plasma theory and is still today remained disputed. A step towards the answer for the small scale heating would be to measure the scale, in order to relate it to a known instability or other small scale processes.The multi-spacecraft NASA MMS spacecraft carries several high resolute particle and field instruments enabling almost instantaneous 3D particle measurements and accurate measurements of the magnetic field. Also the separation between the four MMS spacecraft is as small as < 8km for a certain mission phase. This allows for new approaches when determining the scale which for shocks has not been possible before when using data from previous multi-spacecraft missions with spacecraft separation much larger. The velocity of the shock is large compared to the spacecraft,thus the shock width cannot be directly measured by each spacecraft. Either a constant velocity has to be estimated or we could use gradients of a certain parameter between the spacecraft as the shock flows over them. The usage of gradients is only possible with MMS as all the spacecraft could for MMS be within the shock simultaneously. The change for a parameter within the shockis assumed to be linear between the spacecraft and measurements. It is also assumed that the gradient of the parameter maximizes in the shock normal direction. Using these assumptions two methods have been developed. They have the same working principles but are using two or four spacecraft for linear estimation at each measurement point. From the gradient and parametric data the shock ramp width could then be found. The parameter used in this thesis is the electron temperature. The methods using one, two and four spacecraft were tested using electron temperature data from different shock crossings. Two problems with the gradient methods were found from the results, giving false data for certain time spans. To avoid these problems, the scale of the electron temperature gradient was determined for roughly half the shock ramp. It was found using the two and four spacecraft methods that an assumption of constant velocity for the shock speed is an uncertain assumption. The shock speed varies over short time scales and in the shock crossings analysed the constant velocity estimations were generally overestimated. From the two and four spacecraft methods roughly half of the temperature rise in the shock ramp occurred over 10.8km or 12.4 lpe. This is almost a factor of two greater than previous scale estimates using Cluster data and a multi-spacecraft timing method for shock speed estimation.From the results it is concluded that the methods when using gradients between spacecraft has some restrictions. They can only be used for MMS data, requires quasi-perpendicular high Mach number and will give false results if the temperature is disturbed by interacting hot plasma clouds. However, even though we have these limitations for the tested gradient methods, they were found better and more reliable compared to previous methods for shock scaling.

Titan, the largest moon of Saturn, is the only known moon with a fully developed nitrogen-rich atmosphere, its ionosphere is detectable as high as 2200 km above its surface and hosts complex organic chemistry. Titan’s atmosphere and ionosphere has striking similarities to current theories of these regions around Earth 3.5 billion years ago. The Cassini spacecraft has been in orbit around Saturn since 2004 and carries a wide range of instruments for investigating Titan’s ionosphere, among them the Langmuir probe, a “space weather station”, manufactured and operated by the Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Uppsala. This thesis presents studies of positive ions, negative ions and negatively charged dust grains (also called aerosols) in Titan’s ionosphere using the in-situ measurements by the Cassini Langmuir probe, supplemented by the data from particle mass spectrometers. One of the main results is the detection of significant (up to about 4000 cm-3) charge densities of heavy (up to about 13800 amu/charge) negative ions and dust grains in Titan’s ionosphere below 1400 km altitude. The dust is found to be the main negative charge carrier below about 1100 km on the nightside/terminator ionosphere, forming a dusty plasma (also called “ion-ion” plasma). A new analysis method is developed using a combination of simultaneous observations by multiple instruments for a case study of four flybys of Titan’s ionosphere, further constraining the ionospheric plasma charge densities. This allows to predict a dusty plasma in the dayside ionosphere below 900 km altitude (thus declaring it a global phenomenon), as well as to empirically estimate the average charge of the negative ions and dust grains to between -2.5 and -1.5 elementary charges. The complete Cassini dataset spans just above 13 years, allowing to study effects of the solar activity on Titan’s ionosphere. From solar minimum to maximum, the increase in the solar EUV flux increases the densities by a factor of ~2 in the dayside ionosphere and, surprisingly, decreases by a factor of ~3-4 in the nightside ionosphere. The latter is proposed to be an effect of the ionospheric photochemistry modified by higher solar EUV flux. Modelling photoionization also reveals an EUV trend (as well as solar zenith angle and corotational plasma ram dependencies) in the loss rate coefficient.

Recent missions to solar system comets, such as ESA's Rosetta mission, raise interest for models and descriptions of their plasma environment. The interaction with various space phenomena such as stellar wind make the construction of an analytical description difficult. Instead, a simplified view of the comet environment is considered where the effects of magnetism and departures from radial symmetry are neglected. This is done in an effort to construct an approximation of the comet plasma behaviour later to be compared against observational accounts to find which plasma features are dependent on more complex phenomena and which plasma features arise as a result of the simpler comet view. Several attempts are made to construct an analytical description of comet plasma as based on the description within another branch of plasma physics: fusion. Previous work regarding the vacuum expansion of plasma after a stationary target is rapidly ablated via high-intensity lasers appears promising for adaptation to the comet environment. Before the comet environment can be considered the different natures of the two problems have to be considered. For example, the comet case is a stationary expansion problem as opposed to fast-ignition fusion where the expansion is treated as an initial value problem. Having accounted for the problems' inherent differences, a few methods are proposed to convert solutions of lab fusion distribution functions to the comet case. Additionally, a numerical approach to calculate the distribution function of comet electrons is presented employing ergodic invariance. Lastly, a toy-model simulation of the timescale for variations in the potential show that the error in the ergodic invariance may in practice have a faster convergent timescale dependence than theoretical bounds suggest. Optimistically, this suggest the possibility of future use in numerical attempts at modelling comet plasma.

In the last 30 years, numerical models have been developed to properly analyze Hall eect thrusters (HET),leading to a bridge between analytical prediction/empirical intuition and experiments. For companies in thespace sector, these codes serve to much more than simply simulating the thruster, but it provides a fast, cheapand reliable tool for processes such as validation and verication procedures, as well as for technical developmentof the thruster. During the testing of the thruster, mostly measurements upstream from the thruster exhaustare obtained since the high density plasma inside the channel disturbs any measurement inside the channel. Thisresults in the company knowing about the output of the thruster performance, but having little knowledge aboutthe processes and behavior of the thruster itself. The purpose of this study is to help reduce the uncertainty,using existing software to eectively analyze and understand HETs. Because of the physical nature of theproblem, HET simulations follow a multi-scale approach where the thruster is divided into two regions: insidechannel/near-plume region and far-plume region. To study each zone dierent softwares are typically used.This thesis aims to nd a common ground between both software, coupling them and creating a line of analysisto follow when studying HETs.The present thesis will focus on the analysis of the famous SPT-100. The design of this work can be divided intotwo: an hybrid-PIC simulation with a software focusing on the inside channel and near-plume region, Hallis; andanother hybrid-PIC simulation regarding the plasma plume expansion performed with SPIS-EP. During thisproject both software were mastered. Hallis is investigated, emphasizing the empirical modelling of the electronanomalous transport inside the thruster and its consequences on the output results. A sensitivity analysis isperformed to obtain a good set of the empirical parameters that drive the overall performance of the thrusterand the plasma behavior. Once a good match persist between Hallis and nominal operating conditions, theoutput is used to construct the input injection distributions needed by the plasma expansion software (SPIS).Finally, the plasma plume is simulated and results are compared to in-house experimental data. In this way,one is able to control and understand the nal output directly from the behavior of the thruster. It is importantto mention that due to condentiality reasons, the testing data cannot be fully shown and sometimes only thetrend can be analyzed.As a results of the analysis, it is found that establishing the coupling between softwares is feasible, but Halliscode needs to include some characteristics to fully take advantage of its potential. It is determined that theion denition followed by Hallis is enough to perfectly dene the ion energy distribution as well as generalperformance parameters of the SPT-100 (thrust, ionization eciency, power...), but the poor electron modelgenerates some deviation in the results. SPIS simulations and comparison with testing data suggest that Hallisoutput is not enough to properly match the experimental measurements, especially regarding the ion angledistribution function. According to Hallis, such distribution is too narrow compared to the observed plasmaplume. This problem is found to be caused by the small simulation domain of Hallis. Hence, although couplingof the software is easy, more functionalities of Hallis would allow for a better study and more accurate results.

This project aims to investigate the orientation of plasma jet fronts in Earth's magnetotail using multi-spacecraft measurement data. The orientations are estimated by applying minimum variance analysis (MVA) and multi-spacecraft timing analysis for finding normal vectors to the jet fronts as they pass over the spacecraft. An agreement between the two analysis methods is found when applied to a data set of fronts. The obtained results are compared to measurements of the ion bulk velocities of the fronts, where a discrepancy is found. Limitations of the analysis are addressed and alternative approaches are presented. / I detta projekt undersöks riktningen hos fronter till plasma-jetstrålar i jordens magnetsvans genom analysering av mätdata från en samling rymdfarkoster. Riktningarna uppskattas genom att applicera minimum variance analysis (MVA) samt multi-spacecraft timing för att hitta normalvektorer till fronterna som passerar rymdfarkosterna. De två metoderna uppnår liknande resultat när de tillämpas på en uppsättning fronter. De erhållna normalvektorerna jämförs även med riktningen av uppmätta jonhastigheter från rymdfarkosterna där en tydlig skillnad förekommer. Begränsningar av analysmetoden påpekas och förslag på alternativa tillvägagångssätt läggs fram.