Rocket Measurements of Electron Energy Spectra From Earth's Photoelectron Production Layer

Autor: Glyn A. Collinson, Alex Glocer, Dennis Chornay, Robert Michell, Rob Pfaff, Tim Cameron, Paulo Uribe, Rudy A. Frahm, Traci Rosnack, Chris Pirner, Ted Gass, Jim Clemmons, Aroh Barjatya, Steven Martin, Hassanali Akbari, Shantanab Debchoudhury, Rachel Conway, Francis Eparvier, Eftyhia Zesta, Nikolaos Paschalidis
Jazyk: angličtina
Rok vydání: 2022
Předmět:
Zdroj: Geophysical Research Letters, Vol 49, Iss 17, Pp n/a-n/a (2022)
Druh dokumentu: article
ISSN: 1944-8007
0094-8276
DOI: 10.1029/2022GL098209
Popis: Abstract Photoelectrons are crucial to atmospheric physics. They heat the atmosphere, strengthen planetary ambipolar electric fields, and enhance the outflow of ions to space. However, there exist only a handful of measurements of their energy spectrum near the peak of photoproduction. We present calibrated energy spectra of pristine photoelectrons at their source by a prototype Dual Electrostatic Analyzer (DESA) instrument flown on 11 July 2021 aboard the Dynamo‐2 sounding rocket (NASA № 36.357). Photopeaks arising from 30.4 nm He‐II spectral line were observed throughout the flight above 120 km. DESA also successfully resolved the rarely observed N2 absorption feature. Below 10 eV observations were in good agreement with the GLOW suprathermal electron. Above 10 eV fluxes substantially deviated from the model by as much as an order of magnitude.
Databáze: Directory of Open Access Journals
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