Active measurement of the thermal electron density and temperature on the Mercury Magnetospheric Orbiter of the BepiColombo mission

The purpose of this paper is to define the scientific objectives of AM2P, to explain the principle of the measurement, to describe the electronic device, and to show the ability of AM2P to make reliable and accurate measurements of the thermal plasma density and temperature in the Hermean magnetosphere, as well as in the solar wind at heliocentric distances of 0.31-0.47 AU. The potential performance of this instrument has been evaluated using both an analytical approach and numerical simulations.