Energetic Ions Observed at Low to High Latitudes in the Southern Heliosphere During Declining and Rising Solar Activity

We present and compare observations of energetic protons during the two first transits of the Ulysses spacecraft from low to high latitudes in the southern heliosphere. Protons in the energy range 1.8–3.8 MeV from the COSPIN experiment are studied for global trends and in relation to some ambient structures in the solar wind (corotating interaction region, forward/reverse shock). The global trends show the large dependence on the heliospheric condition and solar activity, including indications of a larger ambient particle population during the rising phase of solar activity and more efficient solar wind particle accelerators during the declining phase. More enhancements in the proton flux intensity are time associated with forward shocks than reverse contrary to first pass. Recurrent structures are found even during the second transit. Some latitude dependent periodicities are observed that could relate to the differential solar rotation. This revised version was published online in August 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Magnetic Turbulence in the Geospace Environment

Magnetic turbulence is found in most space plasmas, including the Earth’s magnetosphere, and the interaction region between the magnetosphere and the solar wind. Recent spacecraft observations of magnetic turbulence in the ion foreshock, in the magnetosheath, in the polar cusp regions, in the magnetotail, and in the high latitude ionosphere are reviewed. It is found that: 1. A large share of magnetic turbulence in the geospace environment is generated locally, as due for instance to the reflected ion beams in the ion foreshock, to temperature anisotropy in the magnetosheath and the polar cusp regions, to velocity shear in the magnetosheath and magnetotail, and to magnetic reconnection at the magnetopause and in the magnetotail. 2. Spectral indices close to the Kolmogorov value can be recovered for low frequency turbulence when long enough intervals at relatively constant flow speed are analyzed in the magnetotail, or when fluctuations in the magnetosheath are considered far downstream from the bow shock. 3. For high frequency turbulence, a spectral index α?2.3 or larger is observed in most geospace regions, in agreement with what is observed in the solar wind. 4. More studies are needed to gain an understanding of turbulence dissipation in the geospace environment, also keeping in mind that the strong temperature anisotropies which are observed show that wave particle interactions can be a source of wave emission rather than of turbulence dissipation. 5. Several spacecraft observations show the existence of vortices in the magnetosheath, on the magnetopause, in the magnetotail, and in the ionosphere, so that they may have a primary role in the turbulent injection and evolution. The influence of such a turbulence on the plasma transport, dynamics, and energization will be described, also using the results of numerical simulations.     

Dynamics of ion energy-dispersed structures near the plasma sheet outer boundary

An analysis of energy-dispersed structures of protons and populations of electrons has been made using the Interball-2 satellite data for the apogee parts of 1579 (September 13, 1997) and 1276 (July 2, 1997) orbits. At each orbit, the satellite crossed the auroral zone twice at altitudes of 13500–19000 km moving first poleward (the first crossing) and then equatorward (the second crossing). A transformation of the types of energy-dispersed structures near the outer boundary of the auroral zone was observed at the first and second crossings: VDIS into TDIS (orbit 1579) and TDIS into VDIS (orbit 1276). The VDIS represent solitary structures of 0.3–10 keV consisting of several small-scale structures 2–5 min long, while the TDIS are repeating injections of 1–14 keV 1–3 min long with the repetition period of 2–4 min. It is shown that the VDIS-to-TDIS and TDIS-to-VDIS transformations are distinctly related to the phase of a substorm. The VDIS were observed under magnetically quiet conditions before a substorm or at the recovery phase of a substorm, while TDIS were observed during the main phase of a substorm.     

Responses of the African equatorial ionization anomaly (EIA) to some selected intense geomagnetic storms during the maximum phase of solar cycle 24

This study investigates the morphology of the GPS TEC responses in the African Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) region to intense geomagnetic storms during the ascending and maximum phases of solar cycle 24 (2012–2014). Specifically, eight intense geomagnetic storms with Dst ≤ ?100 nT were considered in this investigation using TEC data obtained from 13 GNSS receivers in the East African region within 36–42°E geographic longitude; 29°N–10°S geographic latitude; ± 20°N magnetic latitude. The storm-time behavior of TEC shows clear positive and negative phases relative to the non-storm (median) behavior, with amplitudes being dependent on the time of sudden commencement of the storm and location. When a storm starts in the morning period, total electron content increases for all stations while a decrease in total electron content is manifested for a storm that had its sudden commencement in the afternoon period. The TEC and the EIA crest during the main phase of the storm is significantly impacted by the geomagnetic storm, which experiences an increase in the intensity of TEC while the location and spread of the crest usually manifest a poleward expansion.     

Energy measurements of electrons and protons in cosmic ray physics using satellite and balloon calorimeters in recent two decades

Calorimeters are used in cosmic ray studies for a variety of purposes, such as measurements of particle energy, separation of electrons and hadrons, formation of triggers (signals for activation of instruments), and so on. In this review we consider the methods of energy reconstruct of protons and electrons (for particles with energies exceeding 10 GeV) in calorimeters of various types that are used in astrophysical experiments of cosmic ray studies carried out with balloons and satellites.     

Spectrophotometric diagnostics of energy characteristics and conductance of the auroral ionosphere from satellite: 1. Specific methods,accuracy problems,and instrumentation requirements

One of the most important tasks of space research is to find a way of real-time monitoring of the space environment conditions around the Earth. This is necessary in order to provide warning about the threats of critical failures in ground-based and space technological systems, thus providing for their stable and secure operation. In view of this concern, methods of diagnostics of ionospheric energy and electrodynamic characteristics continue to be developed on the basis of spectral and photometric measurements, analyzing the glow intensity of emissions of the upper atmosphere observed from above. Serial panoramic monochromatic maps of the intensity of luminosity of the upper atmosphere emissions measured from orbiting detectors can serve as a main data source for such an analysis. In this paper we consider the principal aspects of the method, and, on this basis, the instrumentation requirements are formulated.     

Model of effective heat conduction in polymer composite porous materials

A model and a technique for calculating polymer composite materials with an ellipsoid-shaped filler that take into account the influence of system porosity, particle anisodiametry and a boundary layer on the effective heat conduction are proposed. The results of calculations made by numerical methods are in a good agreement with the well-known statistic and Odolevskii, Maxwell, and Dul’nev matrix models.     

Exact solution of a problem on heat exchange in channels under unsteady conditions at low biot number values

A number of exact solutions of a problem on heat exchange in channels under unsteady conditions at the low Biot numbers and sufficiently low Brune numbers with and without consideration for a heat carrier stay period in a pipeline are obtained.     

International scientific optical network for space debris research

A joint team of researchers under the auspices of the Center for Space Debris Information Collection, Processing and Analysis of the Russian Academy of Sciences collaborates with 15 observatories around the world to perform observations of space debris. For this purpose, 14 telescopes were equipped with charge-coupled device (CCD) cameras, Global Positioning System (GPS) receivers, CCD frame processing and ephemeris computation software, with the support of the European and Russian grants. Many of the observation campaigns were carried out in collaboration with the Astronomical Institute of the University of Bern (AIUB) team operating at the Zimmerwald observatory and conducting research for the European Space Agency (ESA), using the Tenerife/Teide telescope for searching and tracking of unknown objects in the geostationary region (GEO). More than 130,000 measurements of space objects along a GEO arc of 340.9°, collected and processed at Space Debris Data Base in the Ballistic Center of the Keldysh Institute of Applied Mathematics (KIAM) in 2005–2006, allowed us to find 288 GEO objects that are absent in the public orbital databases and to determine their orbital elements. Methods of discovering and tracking small space debris fragments at high orbits were developed and tested. About 40 of 150 detected unknown objects of magnitudes 15–20.5 were tracked during many months. A series of dedicated 22-cm telescopes with large field of view for GEO survey tasks is in process of construction. 7 60-cm telescopes will be modernized in 2007.