Characterizing solar flare high energy particles in near-Earth orbits

Author

Gussenhoven, M.S. ; Brautigam, D.H. ; Mullen, E.G.

Author_Institution

Air Force Geophys. Lab., Hanscom AFB, MA, USA

Volume

35

Issue

6

fYear

1988

fDate

12/1/1988 12:00:00 AM

Firstpage

1412

Lastpage

1419

Abstract

The high-latitude radiation environment at 840 km for the solar minimum period from December 1983 to October 1987 was measured, using a dosimeter on the DMSP/F7 satellite to characterize solar proton events and compare them to events from earlier periods near solar maximum. The solar proton spectra agree well. A method of characterizing the high-energy particles in solar proton events is proposed. It uses a power spectrum index and dose number that can be useful in specifying polar radiation environments for the design of spacecraft. Latitudinal cutoff levels for higher-energy (>35 MeV, >55 MeV, and >95 MeV) particles are also given for the solar proton event periods and compared to calculated cosmic ray cutoffs

Keywords

aerospace instrumentation; artificial satellites; cosmic rays; solar flares; 1983 December to 1987 October; 35 to 95 MeV; 840 km; DMSP/F7 satellite; calculated cosmic ray cutoffs; design of spacecraft; dose number; dosimeter; geomagnetic cutoff; high-latitude radiation environment; latitudinal cuttoff levels; near-Earth orbits; power spectrum index; solar flare high energy particles; solar minimum period; solar proton events; solar proton spectra; specifying polar radiation environments; Area measurement; Earth; Extraterrestrial measurements; Force measurement; Magnetosphere; Orbits; Particle measurements; Protons; Satellites; Space vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Journal_Title

Nuclear Science, IEEE Transactions on

Publisher

ieee

ISSN

0018-9499

Type

jour

DOI

10.1109/23.25473

Filename

25473