Sensor · Spaceborne

Swarm Absolute Scalar Magnetometer

Missions → Swarm (Extended operations)

Data products → Swarm Level 2 Magnetic Field Models (L2)

Helium-4 optically pumped scalar magnetometer flown on ESA Swarm for absolute magnetic-field intensity measurement and VFM calibration.

Sensor

The Swarm Absolute Scalar Magnetometer is the helium-4 scalar magnetometer flown on ESA Swarm to measure magnetic-field intensity.^[1] ASM provides absolute scalar measurements used to calibrate the Vector Field Magnetometer on the same spacecraft.^[2]

CEA-Leti developed and manufactured ASM under CNES contract.^[2] In nominal scalar mode it provides 1 Hz measurements with 0.4 Hz low-pass filtering, and in-flight analysis reports 65 pT maximum accuracy error after Level 1b corrections.^[3] On Swarm Alpha, the ASM payload status was active as of 2 February 2026.^[4]

Operator pricing

Pricing not publicly listed by operator

Supply chain position

carried by Swarm

feeds data product Swarm Level 2 Magnetic Field Models (L2)

Methods this sensor implements

Demonstrated

Satellite magnetometryvia Swarm
ASM supplies absolute scalar magnetic-field measurements for VFM calibration and implements the scalar half of the satellite magnetometry package.

Capable, undemonstrated

None on record.

Topics this relates to

Geology and geohazards Satellite magnetometry(demonstrated)marginal

Mineral exploration Satellite magnetometry(demonstrated)marginal

Sources

[1]WMO OSCAR ASM instrument detailsagency doc-2026-06-08
[2]Swarm new generation of sensors, ESAagency doc-2026-06-08
[3]In-flight performance of the ASM vector mode on Swarmpeer reviewed2015-04-252026-06-08
[4]WMO OSCAR SWARM-A satellite payload statusagency doc-2026-06-08

Cite https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/swarm-absolute-scalar-magnetometer Markdown twin → Field definitions → Suggest a correction →

How to cite this page

Plain text

Swarm Absolute Scalar Magnetometer. EO-Atlas, SpectraWorks B.V. https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/swarm-absolute-scalar-magnetometer (CC BY 4.0)

BibTeX

@misc{eoatlas:products:sensor:swarm-absolute-scalar-magnetometer,
  title = {Swarm Absolute Scalar Magnetometer},
  author = {{EO-Atlas}},
  publisher = {SpectraWorks B.V.},
  note = {CC BY 4.0},
  url = {https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/swarm-absolute-scalar-magnetometer}
}