OGO-5 experiment E-09 cosmic ray electrons
Cosmic ray spectra and solar electron data in the 10 to 200 MeV range, as measured by experiment E-09 on OGO-5, are reported.
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Cosmic ray spectra and solar electron data in the 10 to 200 MeV range, as measured by experiment E-09 on OGO-5, are reported.
Estimates were made of the number of trapped protons and electrons encountered by vehicles on low-thrust trajectories through the Van Allen belts. The estimates serve as a first step in assessing whether these radiations present a problem to on-board sensitive components and payload. The integrated proton spectra and electron spectra are presented for the case of a trajectory described by a vehicle with a constant-thrust acceleration A sub c equal to 0.001 meter/sq sec. This value of acceleration corresponds to a trip time of about 54 days from low earth orbit to synchronous orbit. It is shown that the time spent in the belts and hence the radiation encountered vary nearly inversely with the value of thrust acceleration. Thus, the integrated spectral values presented for the case of A sub c = 0.001 meter/sq sec can be generalized for any other value of thrust acceleration by multiplying them by the factor 0.001/A sub c.
Simultaneous measurements of ion and electron energy spectra recorded during the October 28, 1977 geomagnetic storm by the AE-C and ATS 6 spacecraft when both were nearly on the same L shell are evaluated and compared. The orbit of the AE-C generates wide longitudinal coverage of the auroral oval, whereas the ATS 6, which is located at geosynchronous orbit, samples the equatorial particle population. It is shown that the coincident electron energy spectra obtained by the two satellites agree well above 5 keV and the spectra of electrons peak near 1 keV at ionospheric altitudes, while no peaks in energy appear at synchronous altitude.
Electrons from linear accelerator directed in collimated beam at normal incidence upon thick targets of various materials, obtaining energy spectra of retrofugal electrons
Particle measurements made by the lunar-orbiting Apollo subsatellites have shown that electron energy spectra in the range 0.55-320 keV in the high-latitude magnetotail often fit a power law with an exponent of -3 and a flux at .5 keV of 200,000 to 700,000 el/sq cm s sr keV. In the magnetosheath, electron energy spectra are similar to the high-latitude magnetotail spectra. In the plasma sheet, electron energy spectra often fit the high-energy tail of a Maxwellian distribution with Eo of about 200-500 eV. During times of substorms a number of cases where the plasma sheet appears to thin at onset have been observed. In addition, cases of plasma sheet expansion at onset have also been observed.
Spatial (radial and longitudinal) yield spectra for electron energy degradation in molecular nitrogen gas for 25-eV to 10-keV incident electrons have been generated by using a Monte Carlo technique. These spatial yield spectra associated with the electron degradation process can be employed to calculate a 'yield' for any inelastic state at any position in the medium. These have been analytically represented in terms of a model containing three simple 'microplumes'. Five-dimensional yield spectra which contain the information about the polar angle of the electron have also been analytically represented within the framework of the microplume model. Aeronomical and radiological applications of our model are discussed.
Electron and ion energy spectra and electron pitch angle distributions are presented for two sounding rocket flights in the dayside auroral zone. At times, effects of dc electric fields parallel to the magnetic field are evident in that: (1) within precipitation features, protons are decelerated by an amount of energy consistent with that which electrons gain and (2) electrons are sometimes aligned to within 3 deg (full width at half maximum) of the magnetic field. A maximum altitude for the accelerating region of several thousand kilometers is deduced from the narrow width of the pitch angle distribution and also from time-of-flight delays between the observation of accelerated electrons and decelerated protons.
A recently developed automated fitting procedure for Dynamics Explorer 2 electron energy spectra represents each auroral electron spectrum as a superposition of several Maxwellian and several Gaussian components. The fitting parameters give a digital representation which uniquely describes each spectrum. It is shown that unusually high ambient electron temperatures (of the order of 10,000 K) in the cleft are strongly correlated with the intensity parameters of the lowest-temperature Maxwellian components of the precipitation. The collisional heat input into the ambient electrons by these Maxwellian components of the precipitation fluxes is shown to be more than an order of magnitude higher in the high-temperature storm time cases than it is in a control set of 'normal temperature' quiet time cases. The heating effect of the solar flux is shown to be nearly the same for both sets of cases. As a result it is concluded that electron precipitation is the chief mechanism responsible for those high ambient temperatures.
ISEE-1 charged-particle measurements obtained during eight plasma temperature transitions (PTTs) in 1978-1979 are compiled in tables and graphs and analyzed in detail, comparing the ion and electron differential energy spectra with the predictions of theoretical models. PTTs are defined as approximately 1-h periods of low bulk plasma velocity and steadily increasing or decreasing thermal energy. A Maxwellian distribution is found to be inadequate in describing the PTT energy spectra, but velocity-exponential and kappa distributions are both successful, the latter especially at higher energies. The power-law index kappa varies from PTT to PTT, but the high-energy spectral index and overall shape of the distribution remain constant during a PTT; both spatial and temporal effects are observed.
We report medium resolution electron-impact induced emission spectra of CO for 20, 100 1nd 200 eV impact energies.
The main purpose of this article is to describe the plasma and particle populations in the magnetotail near 60 earth radii geocentric distance. Both the plasma sheet and the high-latitude portions of the magnetotail are discussed. Electron and proton spectra at energies above about 20 keV and electron spectra down to 0.5 keV have been obtained. Another topic of importance is the comparison of the deep magnetotail plasma sheet with the Vela satellite measurements at about 20 earth radii geocentric distance.
The interstellar origin and propagation of cosmic ray electrons and positrons are discussed on the basis of radio observations and direct measurements of cosmic ray spectra. Data on the galactic nonthermal radio spectrum are indicated which imply an exponent of -2.2 for the interstellar electron spectrum below 2 GeV and suggest, together with direct cosmic ray evidence, that the spectrum steepens to -3.2 at higher energies. Comparison of the radio data for higher energies with earth-based measurements reveals that the position of the break in the spectrum is dependent on the strength of the interstellar magnetic field and thus all measured intensity values are equally valid. Analysis of the homogeneous model of cosmic ray electron and positron propagation reveals that the limits on propagation parameters are independent of the set of cosmic ray measurements considered, and predict an injection spectral index for electrons of -2.24, an energy loss parameter of 1.5 + or - 0.5 x 10 to the -16th/GeV per sec, a path length of 7.5 times the 0.33 power of the ratio of initial to measured energies (in g/sq cm), average interstellar hydrogen density of 0.22/cu cm and a cosmic ray age of 25 million years. The absence of short cosmic ray lifetimes is shown to affect the interstellar electron spectrum above 100 GeV.
The emission spectra resulting from electron impact excitation on molecular nitrogen and oxygen in the 500-1200 A spectral region are investigated. Electron energies are from 0 to 300 eV. Numerous bands of N2 are found between 800 and 1000 A. Excitation functions are measured for the NII 916 A, the OI 879 A, and the OII 834 multiplets, and nitrogen band emission. Cross sections were measured at 200 eV for several of the band emissions plus the NI 1135 A, NI 1164 A, NI 1177 A, NII 776 A, NII 1084 A, OI 1152 A, OI 1041 A, OI 999 A, OI 989 A, OI 879 A, OII 834 A, OII 616 A, OII 555 A, OII 539 A, and OII 718 A multiplets.
Spatial and high-time-resolution properties of the velocities, magnetic field, and 3-D electric field within plasma turbulence are examined observationally using data from the Magnetospheric Multiscale mission. Observations from a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability (KHI) on the Earth's magnetopause are examined, which both provides a series of repeatable intervals to analyze, giving better statistics, and provides a first look at the properties of turbulence in the KHI. For the first time direct observations of both the high-frequency ion and electron velocity spectra are examined, showing differing ion and electron behavior at kinetic scales. Temporal spectra exhibit power law behavior with changes in slope near the ion gyrofrequency and lower hybrid frequency. The work provides the first observational evidence for turbulent intermittency and anisotropy consistent with quasi two-dimensional turbulence in association with the KHI. The behavior of kinetic-scale intermittency is found to have differences from previous studies of solar wind turbulence, leading to novel insights on the turbulent dynamics in the KHI.
Spatial (radial and longitudinal) yield spectra for electron energy degradation in atomic oxygen have been obtained using a Monte Carlo method for 25 eV to 10 keV incident electrons. Four-dimensional yield spectra have been analytically represented in terms of a model containing three simple microplumes. We find that the scaled spatial yield spectra for O is approximately the same as for N2. This feature provides a basis for inferring yield spectra for any atmosphere gas or mixture of gases.
In an effort to improve the reliability and versatility of spacecraft charging models designed to assist spacecraft designers in accommodating and mitigating the harmful effects of charging on spacecraft, the NASA Space Environments and Effects (SEE) Program has funded development of facilities at Utah State University for the measurement of the electronic properties of both conducting and insulating spacecraft materials. We present here an overview of our instrumentation and capabilities, which are particularly well suited to study electron emission as related to spacecraft charging. These measurements include electron-induced secondary and backscattered yields, spectra, and angular resolved measurements as a function of incident energy, species and angle, plus investigations of ion-induced electron yields, photoelectron yields, sample charging and dielectric breakdown. Extensive surface science characterization capabilities are also available to fully characterize the samples in situ. Our measurements for a wide array of conducting and insulating spacecraft materials have been incorporated into the SEE Charge Collector Knowledge-base as a Database of Electronic Properties of Materials Applicable to Spacecraft Charging. This Database provides an extensive compilation of electronic properties, together with parameterization of these properties in a format that can be easily used with existing spacecraft charging engineering tools and with next generation plasma, charging, and radiation models. Tabulated properties in the Database include: electron-induced secondary electron yield, backscattered yield and emitted electron spectra; He, Ar and Xe ion-induced electron yields and emitted electron spectra; photoyield and solar emittance spectra; and materials characterization including reflectivity, dielectric constant, resistivity, arcing, optical microscopy images, scanning electron micrographs, scanning tunneling microscopy images, and Auger electron spectra. Further details of the instrumentation used for insulator measurements and representative measurements of insulating spacecraft materials are provided in other Spacecraft Charging Conference presentations. The NASA Space Environments and Effects Program, the Air Force Office of Scientific Research, the Boeing Corporation, NASA Graduate Research Fellowships, and the NASA Rocky Mountain Space Grant Consortium have provided support.
The results are presented of a number of observations made with the aid of the Atmosphere Explorer C spacecraft under conditions which provided an unambiguous opportunity to study photoelectrons entering the atmosphere after flowing along the geomagnetic field from the magnetic conjugate point. A graph is presented with energy spectra of electrons observed precipitating into the atmosphere when the magnetic conjugate point was illuminated. Another graph shows the average energy spectra of electrons observed at 263 km for a range of solar zenith angles when the zenith angles at the magnetic conjugate point varied from 100 to 81 deg.
Noise spectra of a InSb hot electron bolometer at 4.2 K bath temperature are measured and compared with theory. Bolometer phonon noise and Johnson noise are included in the analysis. A nonequilibrium Johnson noise model, due to Mather, gives good agreement with experiment over the frequency range 0.2-1.1 MHz. This model incorporates an elevated electron gas temperature and electrothermal feedback from the bias supply.