INTEGRAL Radiation Environment Monitor: IREM

Developed and manufactured by:

OERLIKON-CONTRAVES SPACE in cooperation with the PAUL SCHERRER INSTITUT (PSI) under a development contract of the EUROPEAN SPACE AGENCY (ESA).

The INTEGRAL Radiation Environment Monitor (IREM) performs a wide range of radiation monitoring functions in-orbit, and downloads the results via the INTEGRAL spacecraft telemetry to the ground.

The IREM data are part of the spacecraft "housekeeping" stream and, as such, are made available to all users via the ISDC. The design of the IREM is based on that of the Standard Radiation Environment Monitor (SREM), which is designed as a standard equipment compatible with all common spacecraft interfaces and mission constraints. The main difference between the IREM and other SREMs is the small interface box between the IREM instrument and the INTEGRAL spacecraft.

The IREM unit measures energetic electrons, protons, and heavy ions, as well as the total accumulated dose encountered during the mission. It is implemented as a part of the overall SREM measurement data base at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland, together with data from SREM units on other missions. Up to now the SREMs have allowed to accumulate valuable new results concerning, e.g., flux directionality, electron belt dynamism, and seasonal changes.

For more details we refer the interested reader to a paper on IREM by Hajdas et al. (2003, A&A 411, L43) in the A&A Special Letters issue on: First science with INTEGRAL, and the Standard Radiation Environment Monitor SREM page at the Paul Scherrer Institute (PSI), Switzerland.

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