Energetic helium isotopes trapped in the magnetosphere

Abstract

Helium nuclei have been measured within the magnetosphere (L ≤ 6) during the 1990/1991 CRRES mission over an energy range of ∼40–100 MeV nucleonl−1. The Office of Naval Research 604 instrument resolves helium isotopes with a mass resolution of ∼0.1 amu. Each helium isotope can be represented by a power law energy spectrum, and the energy spectrum of the 3He is different from that of 4He; that is, the 3He/4He ratio is energy dependent. In the energy range 51–86 MeV/nucleon the 3He/4He ratio is 7.4 ± 2.6 for L = 1.15–1.3 and 2.2±0.6 for L = 1.8–2.15. All observed helium events at L < 2.65 show pitch angle distributions consistent with equatorially trapped ions, whereas the distributions at larger L values are more uniform, within a factor of 2. For 2.15 < L < 6, as L decreases, the 3He/4He ratio increases and the helium energy spectrum softens. A possible origin of the geomagnetically trapped helium isotopes at L <2.15 is proton interactions in the residual atmosphere. The CRRES satellite was operational during the large geomagnetic storm on March 24, 1991, and we have divided the analysis into prestorm and poststorm time periods. Following the storm, the magnetosphere became more dynamic, and at L ∼ 2.3 an enhanced helium flux was observed. Over the energy range of 51–86 MeV nucleonl−1 both the average 3He and 4He fluxes at L = 2.15–2.65 increased by a factor of 6 after the storm relative to the prestorm period, while at L = 1.8–2.15 the average 3He and 4He fluxes decreased by factors of 3 and 11, respectively, following the storm. The implications of these observed results are discussed.