Published November 29, 2008 | Published
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A model of the secondary radiation belt

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Abstract

Products of nuclear reactions between primary radiation belt protons and constituents of the tenuous upper atmosphere form a collocated secondary radiation belt. A calculation of the time-dependent secondary intensity provides a model specification of this environmental component for low- and medium-altitude satellite orbits. It is based on an earlier model of the radiation belt protons, the novel feature being a determination of the secondary source function from nuclear reaction cross sections. All long-lived secondary products are included, isotopes of H and He being dominant while the heavier Li to O isotopes are present at relatively low levels. Secondary protons are shown to be a minor correction to the primary radiation belt.

Additional Information

Copyright 2008 by the American Geophysical Union. Received 8 July 2008; revised 22 September 2008; accepted 30 September 2008; published 29 November 2008. The work at Aerospace was supported by NSF grant ATM-0518190 under the National Space Weather Program. The work at Caltech was supported by NASA grants NNG04GB55G and NAG5-12929. Zuyin Pu thanks Reiner Friedel and Xinlin Li for their assistance in evaluating this paper.

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