An Instrument Error Budget for Space‐Based Absolute Flux Measurements of the Sky Synchrotron Spectrum Below 20 MHz

Abstract This work describes the instrumental error budget for space‐based measurements of the absolute flux of the sky synchrotron spectrum at frequencies below the ionospheric cutoff (20 MHz). We focus on an architecture using electrically short dipoles onboard a small satellite. The error budget combines the contributions of the dipole dimensions, plasma noise, stray capacitance, and front‐end amplifier input impedance. We treat the errors using both a Monte Carlo error propagation model and an analytical method. This error budget can be applied to a variety of experiments and used to ultimately improve the sensing capabilities of space‐based electrically short dipole instruments. The impact of individual uncertainty components, particularly stray capacitance, is explored in more detail.