Handbook for UCSD SC9 SCATHA Auroral Particles Experiment,
CALIFORNIA UNIV SAN DIEGO LA JOLLA SPACE PHYSICS LAB
Pagination or Media Count:
The objective is the determination of magnetospheric processes in containing and accelerating charged particles near the earth. Of particular interest are those particles which are deposited into the upper atmosphere to produce aurorae. Geosynchronous orbits are well suited for these measurements as they are, much of the time, situated equatorially on magnetic field lines which connect with the earth in the auroral latitudes. Hence comparison with simultaneous ground base observations will be important. Two pairs of ion and electron detectors are scanned orthogonally to make determinations of pitch angle distributions and to investigate plasma instabilities and wave-particle interactions. The magnetosphere constitutes a plasma of low density unobtainable in the laboratory. Measurements made by experiments on ATS satellites in the past indicate also that near the midnight sector considerable changes in particle fluxes occur which coincide with geomagnetic substorm observations on the ground. The modes of penetration of solar wind particles into the magnetosphere and their flow properties will also be studied.
- Atmospheric Physics