Fluxes of energetic protons and electrons measured on board the Oersted satellite

Abstract

Abstract. The Charged Particle Detector (CPD) on board the Oersted satellite (649 km perigee, 865 km apogee and 96.48° inclination) currently measures energetic protons and electrons. The measured peak fluxes of E>1 MeV electrons are found to confirm the predictions of AE8-MAX, though they occur at a geographical position relatively shifted in the SAA. The fluxes of protons are one order of magnitude higher than the predictions of AP8-MAX in the energy range 20-500 MeV. This huge discrepancy between AP8 and recent measurements in LEO was already noticed and modelled in SAMPEX/PSB97 and TPM-1 models. Nevertheless some other LEO measurements such as PROBA and CORONA-F result in flux values in good agreement with AP8 within a factor 2. The anisotropy of the low-altitude proton flux, combined with measurement performed on board three-axis stabilised satellites, has been suspected to be one possible source of the important discrepancies observed by different missions. In this paper, we evaluate the effect of anisotropy on flux measurements conducted using the CPD instruments. On the basis of the available data, we confirm the inaccuracy of AP8 at LEO and suggest methods to improve the analysis of data in future flux measurements of energetic protons at low altitudes.