Removing spacecraft-generated disturbances from the BepiColombo magnetic field data

In order to be useful for scientific analysis, the raw magnetic field 
data delivered by the BepiColombo Planetary Magnetometer must first be 
cleaned from stray magnetic fields originating from the spacecraft 
itself. This is especially important during the cruise phase, when the 
magnetic field instrument is still in the stowed position, close to 
various artificial magnetic field sources. The method we employ to 
remove these disturbances is a further development of the Maximum 
Variance Gradiometer technique already in use for cleaning the magnetic 
field data measured by the GeoKompsat-2A geostationary satellite. The 
main improvement over the above mentioned technique is the use of an 
intermediate non-orthogonal reference system which allows for decoupling 
of multiple disturbances. Here we describe the method and present the 
results of its application to the last Mercury flyby.