AtmoCube: observation of the near Earth space environment to study "space weather" effects

AtmoCube represents an innovative measurement system for the study of the near Earth space environment starting from about 400 km altitude. It appears as a cubic nano-satellite, 13 cm side, with a total mass of 1.3 kg (aluminum structure). The scientific instrument is a spectral dosimeter monitoring the radiation environment. The payload also includes a magnetometer and a GPS. The goal is to build a precise map of the Earth magnetic field and of the flux of radiation impinging on the instrument, which is related to Space Weather effects. The GPS, providing the position of the region where the measurements are performed and the corresponding time instant, allows to correlate these measurements with other measurements performed on Earth and from the Space and therefore with the indexes of the Solar activity. In addition the GPS allows an indirect measurement of the atmospheric density. --------------------------------------------------------------------------------