The detection of ultra-relativistic electrons in low Earth orbit

Katsiyannis, Athanassios C.;Dominique, Marie;Pierrard, Viviane;Rosson, Graciela Lopez;Donder, Erwin De;et.al.
(2018) Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate — Vol. 8, p. A01 (2018)

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Authors
  • Katsiyannis, Athanassios C.Royal Observatory of Belgium, Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Avenue Circulaire 3, 1180 Uccle, Belgium
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  • Dominique, MarieRoyal Observatory of Belgium, Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Avenue Circulaire 3, 1180 Uccle, Belgium
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  • Pierrard, Vivianeorcid-logoUCLouvain
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  • Rosson, Graciela LopezRoyal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Ringlaan 3, 1180 Uccle, Belgium
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  • Donder, Erwin DeRoyal Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Solar-Terrestrial Centre of Excellence, Ringlaan 3, 1180 Uccle, Belgium
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Abstract
Aims. To better understand the radiation environment in low Earth orbit (LEO), the analysis of in-situ observations of a variety of particles, at different atmospheric heights, and in a wide range of energies, is needed. Methods. We present an analysis of energetic particles, indirectly detected by the large yield radiometer (LYRA) instrument on board ESA's project for on-board autonomy 2 (PROBA2) satellite as background signal. Combining energetic particle telescope (EPT) observations with LYRA data for an overlapping period of time, we identified these particles as electrons with an energy range of 2 to 8MeV. Results. The observed events are strongly correlated to geo-magnetic activity and appear even during modest disturbances. They are also well confined geographically within the L=4–6 McIlwain zone, which makes it possible to identify their source. Conclusions. Although highly energetic particles are commonly perturbing data acquisition of space instruments, we show in this work that ultra-relativistic electrons with energies in the range of 2–8MeVare detected only at high latitudes, while not present in the South Atlantic Anomaly region.
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Katsiyannis, A. C., Dominique, M., Pierrard, V., Rosson, G. L., Keyser, J. D., Berghmans, D., Kruglanski, M., Dammasch, I. E., & Donder, E. D. (2018). The detection of ultra-relativistic electrons in low Earth orbit. Journal of Space Weather and Space Climate, 8, A01. https://doi.org/10.1051/swsc/2017041 (Original work published 2018)