Measurements of particle precipitation at the south pole

Abstract

Data on the precipitation of low energy particles at the South Geographic Pole were acquired from instruments aboard a polar-orbiting satellite which passed 340km over the South Geographic Pole every 90 minutes during a 5-day period in October–November 1963. This particular location was unique in being both in the auroral zone and under each pass of the satellite. The particle detectors were sensitive to electrons of energies greater than 0.080 keV and protons of energies greater than 4 keV. The particles most often observed precipitating into the atmosphere were electrons of a few keV energy. The diurnal variation of the total precipitated energy flux exhibited a maximum at 10–12 hours U.T. during the period of the experiment. The particle measurements are compared with ground observations and other satellite measurements taken during the same period. The intensity of electron precipitation was better correlated with the local K-index than with K p .