SAMPEX observations of energetic hydrogen isotopes in the inner zone.
We report observations of geomagnetically-trapped hydrogen isotopes at low altitudes, near the feet of field lines in the inner zone, made with the PET instrument aboard the SAMPEX satellite. We have mapped protons from 19 to 500 MeV, and have discovered a collocated belt of deuterons, which we have mapped from 18 to 58 MeV/nucleon. We found deuterium at about 1% of the level of the proton flux at the same energy per nucleon, and no tritium at energies of tens of MeV/nucleon with an upper limit of about 0.1% of the proton flux. Protons and deuterons showed similar time dependence, with fluxes approximately tripling from July 1992 to March 1996, and similar pitch-angle dependence. The high-L limits of the proton and deuteron belts as functions of energy were organized by rigidity, as was to be expected if these limits were set for both species by inability of particles to sustain adiabatic motion and stable trapping.
Looper
M D
MD
The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA 90009, USA.
Blake
J B
JB
Cummings
J R
JR
Mewaldt
R A
RA
D000531:Altitude; D003903:Deuterium; D018534:Earth, Planet; D008280:Magnetics; D011522:Protons; D011834:Radiation Monitoring / Q000295:instrumentation* / Q000379:methods; D011874:Radiometry; D019445:Solar Activity; D013026:Space Flight / Q000295:instrumentation*; D018531:Spacecraft / Q000295:instrumentation*; D014316:Tritium
D011522:Protons; D014316:Tritium; D003903:Deuterium