ROCKET MEASUREMENTS IN PROTON AURORA

Abstract

Proton and electron intensities, energy spectra, and angular distributions derived from a recent rocket flight launched into a 40-rayleigh Hβ aurora are reported. High-intensity proton precipitation (~0.45 erg cm−2 s−1 for protons with energies above 30 keV) was detected throughout the flight above 100 km, whereas the electron intensity was above the limit of detectability for only a short time. The proton and electron spectra and angular distributions in the 20–60 keV energy range were found to be remarkably similar, with angular distributions being isotropic over the pitch-angle range 0–90°, and with e-folding energies of about 12 keV and 18 keV for protons and electrons respectively. The results are interpreted in terms of current magnetospheric models, and are shown to place certain restrictions on the source mechanisms.