ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

European Space Agency

@esa's magnetic field mission. The Swarm #EarthExplorer constellation aims to provide the best-ever survey of the geomagnetic field and its temporal evolution.

earth.esa.int/eogateway/miss… Joined February 2015

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 New Swarm TRACIS dataset to monitor Earth's ionosphere 🧲

Hello Swarm users! Additional EFI TII Raw and Corrected Imagery and Spectra (TRACIS) data are now available on the Swarm dissemination server for all Swarm satellites.

A recent example of the use of TRACIS was presented at this year's EGU by Victor Borges of University of Calgary, who used the product's raw particle energy data to validate observations of the STEVE phenomenon as an extreme ionospheric plasma environment.

We look forward to discussing this and more at the upcoming Swarm data quality workshop in Potsdam, which begins next Monday!

🖼️ Steve and the Milky Way, © Krista Trinder

ℹ️earth.esa.int/eogateway/news…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🙂

European Space Agency@esa · Sep 30

Our Smile mission is ready for science.

Its ultraviolet camera has already captured this substorm rippling through the northern lights around Earth’s North Pole.

Smile will study how Earth responds to the solar wind, helping us better understand space weather.

Read more: esa.int/Science_Explor…

Smile’s first ultraviolet footage shows auroral substorm

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 Swarm Level-2 operational processor update now ready 🧲

We are pleased to inform Swarm data users that the updated version for Swarm Level 2-Cat2 Operational Processors (IBI, FAC, TEC) has been successfully deployed into operations as of 08 Sep 2026.

This milestone ensures the continued reliability and scientific excellence of our magnetic field mission’s data products, enhancing both performance and the overall quality of Swarm L2-Cat2 data.

Key improvements in this version:

💻 Updated computation of dual Field Aligned Current (FAC_AC) during Alpha and Charlie spacecraft manoeuvres (see details in the technical note)
🔀 Fixing the sign issue introduced in FAC_AC data products in October 2021, with the orbital configuration variation and consequent switch in latitude between Alpha and Charlie
🍎 Improved computation of the core field contribution in FAC single, FAC dual and IBI products
🥧 Improved computation of FAC (single and dual) when data from Vector Field Magnetometer (VFM) are missing
⤴️ Handling of changes and improvements introduce in Level 1B products with baseline 07
🛠️ Fixing minor issues and bugs
😽 The Swarm L2-Cat2 data products starting from 3 September 2026 are now generated with the new processor version.

A full mission reprocessing campaign has been successfully completed, from the beginning of the mission to the present date, for all L2 data products (IBI, FAC and TEC).

For more on Swarm and to access the data, visit our Earth Online website
earth.esa.int/eogateway/miss…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

Swarm flies by to lend a hand at @EISCATofficial summer school! 🛰️

Our mission manager @anjastromme was teaching last week at the international summer school where students from around the world get to grips with EISCAT's powerful radars.

Swarm Alpha and Charlie also flew over at the perfect time for the students to check their measurements of phenomena and processes in the polar upper atmosphere and ionosphere.

Below, here you can see the new EISCAT 3D radar main site in Norway, which will fire into action soon!

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 Magnetic Monday 🧲

Swarm tracks the evolution of the South Atlantic Anomaly's second minimum.

A new study investigates a weak area of Earth's magnetic field southwest of South Africa, predicting a lowest total intensity there in around 2048.

🔗sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

📸 From Finlay et al. 2025, via the ESA website esa.int/Applications/O…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 Magnetic Monday 🧲

A combination of cutting-edge labwork with Swarm satellite measurements has mapped the distribution of iron in Earth's lower mantle for the first time.

It's thanks to electrical conductivity! ⚡️

The work has revealed some interesting features, including vast reservoirs of ancient oceanic crust - iron-rich basaltic rock that once formed the floor of prehistoric oceans.

Read the article @ESA_EarthOnline to find out how!
🔗earth.esa.int/eogateway/succ…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 Magnetic Monday 🧲

If you're into measuring Earth's magnetic field from space, you're in for a treat!

🧊 Magnetometer data from @esa_cryosat is now at 1 Hz
🔗earth.esa.int/eogateway/news…

🌬️ And @esa_aeolus is in on the action, with data from 2019-2013
🔗earth.esa.int/eogateway/news…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 Magnetic Monday 🧲

Geomagnetic night vision in birds! 🪿🔭

Check out the exciting research from Beate Zein & @udemsar, who studied the day and nighttime migrating Eurasian curlew to reveal how birds migrate at night when visual cues are scarce...

🔗sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 Magnetic Monday 🧲

In 2010, liquid iron in Earth's molten outer core unexpectedly changed direction deep beneath the Pacific Ocean...

Satellites, including Swarm and @esa_cryosat, are investigating what is still a bit of a mystery!

👉esa.int/Applications/O…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

Exciting! 🧲🛰️

European Space Agency@esa · May 19

✅ Mission success for Smile.

Following lift-off on Vega-C at 05:52 CEST, separation at 06:48 CEST and solar panels deployment at 06:49 CEST, Smile is now underway to study Earth’s magnetic shield.

🔗 esa.int/Science_Explor…

@esascience @ESA_transport @CNES @Avio_Group @CAS__Science

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 Magnetic Monday 🧲

Geomagnetic night vision in birds?! 🐦‍⬛🤖🔦

Swarm really does cover everything 😍💅

🔗sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

🖼️ Sedat Ağbaş / Pexels

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 Magnetic Monday 🧲

Space magnetometry: mapping Earth’s magnetic field with satellites

Nils Olsen on why, despite their limitations, platform magnetometers on satellites like @esa_cryosat are a valuable supplement to dedicated missions

🔗link.springer.com/article/10.118…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

Multi-Step Geospace Storm

Now there's a dance to add to Swarm's repertoire! 🩰💃

Comparative Study of the “Ionosphere-Thermosphere” System Response in Nov '23

🔗sciencedirect.com/science/articl…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

Response of the Ionospheric Electron Temperature Over Sanya to the Super Geomagnetic Storm of May 2024

🔗agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.102…

📸 J. Schmidt

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

Quiet-Time Rapid Subauroral Plasma Flows at High Northern Magnetic Latitudes in the Dusk Sector

Preprint
🔗preprints.org/manuscript/202…

📸 Steve and the Milky Way. Krista Trinder

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

Toward a Dynamic Model for Topside Ionospheric Irregularities: Spherical Harmonic Decomposition 🎛️

🔗agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdfdirect/…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

🧲 Magnetic Monday 🧲

ESA's CryoSat mission@esa_cryosat · Apr 13

🧲 Magnetic Monday 🧲

Electrodynamics of Earth’s magnetic field ⚡️🧲

This paper delves into the mathematics using data from @esa_swarm , CryoSat and other sources.

Preprint
🔗arxiv.org/pdf/2602.14217

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

Swarm validates estimates of thermospheric mass density using 2348 space debris objects 🌎 🛰️

🔗swsc-journal.org/articles/swsc/…

📸ESA/ID&Sense/ONiRiXEL

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

Swarm 🤝 deep learning. This paper reviews progress in modelling the ionosphere with neural networks 🧠 🤖

🔗oaepublish.com/articles/ir.20…

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ESA's Swarm mission

@esa_swarm

Great North American Eclipse

The solar eclipse on 8 April 2024 provided a perfect opportunity for Swarm to explore the effects on Earth’s upper atmosphere🌑☀️

🔗agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.102…

📸 Quebec WikiClub

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ESA's Swarm mission (@esa_swarm) — posts, photos & videos | PeekX