# Swarm Vector Field Magnetometer
*sensor . products*

Triaxial fluxgate vector magnetometer flown on ESA Swarm Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie for geomagnetic field-vector measurements.

## Specifications
- **product status**: operational
- **deployment context**: orbital
- **manufacturer**: technical-university-of-denmark
- **sensor**: {"instrument_family":"magnetometer","measurement_principle":"passive","measurement_type":"vector","sensor_technology":"fluxgate","dynamic_range_nT":[-65536,65536],"sampling_rate_hz":50,"absolute_accuracy_nT":0.5,"resolution_nT":0.5,"vector_components":"Three-axis magnetic field vector components in the VFM instrument frame.","notes":"WMO OSCAR reports 20 ms sampling, equivalent to 50 Hz, and plus or minus 0.5 nT resolution at maximum dynamics. ESA describes ASM scalar data as the calibration reference for VFM."}
- **entity type**: sensor
- **last verified date**: 2026-06-08
- **verified by**: agency-doc
- **claim status**: agency-sourced
- **provider**: technical-university-of-denmark
- **attributes**: {"kind":"sensor","product_status":"operational","deployment_context":"orbital","manufacturer":"technical-university-of-denmark","description":"Triaxial fluxgate vector magnetometer flown on ESA Swarm Alpha, Bravo, and Charlie for geomagnetic field-vector measurements.","sensor":"{\"instrument_family\":\"magnetometer\",\"measurement_principle\":\"passive\",\"measurement_type\":\"vector\",\"sensor_technology\":\"fluxgate\",\"dynamic_range_nT\":[-65536,65536],\"sampling_rate_hz\":50,\"absolute_accuracy_nT\":0.5,\"resolution_nT\":0.5,\"vector_components\":\"Three-axis magnetic field vector components in the VFM instrument frame.\",\"notes\":\"WMO OSCAR reports 20 ms sampling, equivalent to 50 Hz, and plus or minus 0.5 nT resolution at maximum dynamics. ESA describes ASM scalar data as the calibration reference for VFM.\"}"}
- **technology**: magnetometry
- **relevance**: in-scope

## Editorial
The Swarm Vector Field Magnetometer is the vector magnetic-field instrument on each ESA Swarm spacecraft.[^esa-swarm-sensors] The instrument uses a triaxial fluxgate configuration with a dynamic range of plus or minus 65536 nT and 20 ms sampling, producing field-vector observations for the Swarm magnetic mission stack.[^wmo-vfm]

VFM was developed and manufactured at the Technical University of Denmark.[^esa-swarm-sensors] On Swarm Alpha, the VFM payload status was active as of 2 February 2026.[^wmo-swarm-a] The instrument implements satellite magnetometry when paired with ASM scalar calibration data on the same spacecraft.

## Compositional position
- swarm (missions) --[mission_payloads]--> Swarm Vector Field Magnetometer

## Sources
- [esa-swarm-sensors] | Swarm new generation of sensors, ESA | https://www.esa.int/Applications/Observing_the_Earth/FutureEO/Swarm/New_generation_of_sensors | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-08
- [wmo-vfm] | WMO OSCAR VFM instrument details | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/instruments/view/vfm | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-08
- [wmo-swarm-a] | WMO OSCAR SWARM-A satellite payload status | https://space.oscar.wmo.int/satellites/view/swarm_a | tier=agency-doc | accessed=2026-06-08

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Source: https://eo-atlas.org/products/sensor/swarm-vector-field-magnetometer
Maintainer: SpectraWorks B.V. (CC-BY 4.0)