Electron Angular Distributions during Charging Events

The angular distributions of electrons and ions at times of spacecraft charging have been examined for several charging events. Generally it is found that electrons measured perpendicular to the earth's magnetic field are more intense and more energetic than those measured parallel to the magne...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Fennell,J F, Croley,D R , Jr, Mizera,P F, Richardson,J D
Format: Report
Language:English
Subjects:
DISTRIBUTION
ELECTRIC CHARGE
Electricity and Magnetism
ELECTRON DENSITY
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
ELECTRONS
IONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
ORIENTATION(DIRECTION)
P78-2 satellites
SPACECRAFT
Unmanned Spacecraft
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Summary:The angular distributions of electrons and ions at times of spacecraft charging have been examined for several charging events. Generally it is found that electrons measured perpendicular to the earth's magnetic field are more intense and more energetic than those measured parallel to the magnetic field during charging events. During the substorm charging injection, the electron spectra harden at all angles to the magnetic field as the evolution of the charging spectra is monitored by the P78-2 satellites. An example of the onset of charging and the changes in the electron distributions is examined in detail. The evolution of the electrons from a 'soft' plasma sheet distribution to a 'hard' charging distribution is compared with the charging of Kapton on the satellite and the spacecraft frame potential. The ions are used to determine the spacecraft potential. Evidence of periodic surface potential variations related to particle anisotropies is presented and discussed. (Author)