1975-15 VOL. 80, NO. 25 JOURNAL OF GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH SEPTEMBER 1, 1975 SplashAlbedo Protons Between4 and 315 MeV at High and Low Geomagnetic Latitudes K.-P. WENZEL SpaceScience Department (ESLAB),European SpaceResearch and Technology Centre,Noordwijk, Netherlands E. C. STONE AND R. E. VOGT California Institute of Technology,Pasadena,California 91109 The differential energy spectrumof splashalbedo protons has been measuredat high geomagnetic latitude near Fort Churchill, Manitoba, at three periodsof the solar cycle in 1966, 1967,and 1969and at low latitude near Palestine,Texas, in 1967 by usinga balloon-bornesolid statedetectortelescope.We observedsplash albedo proton fluxes between4 and 315 MeV of 81 + 11, 70 + 11, and 48 + 8 protons/(m2s sr) at high latitudein 1966,1967,and 1969and of 37 + 9 protons/(m2s sr) at low latitudein 1967. The decreasesfrom 1966 to 1969 are due to solar modulation of the cosmicray parent nuclei. The albedospectrumshowsa similarshapefor both latitudes.The differencein intensitycan be explainedby different local geomagneticcutoffs;i.e., a significantcontributionto the splashalbedo flux arisesfrom primary particleswith rigidity below4.5 GV. The splashalbedoflux near Fort Churchillis consistentwith corresponding fluxespreviouslyreportednear 53ø-55øN.The flux below 100 MeV near Palestineis significantlylower than that reported by Verma (1967). As part of a program to study low-energycosmic ray protons and a particleswith a balloon-bornedirectionalAE Primary cosmic ray nuclei entering the earth's atmosphere range detector telescopewe have measuredthe differential interact with air nuclei and producesecondaryparticles.Some energy spectrum of splashalbedo protons between4 and 315 of these secondariesmove upward and emerge from the atMeV. We report the results of measurementsnear Fort mosphereas 'splashalbedo.'The chargedsplashalbedopartiINTRODUCTION cles with rigidities below the local geomagneticcutoff cannot Churchill, Manitoba, in 1966, 1967, and 1969 and near Palestine, Texas, in 1967. escapefrom the earth. They spiral along magneticfield lines and reenterthe atmospherein the oppositehemisphere.These INSTRUMENT particlesconstitutethe 'reentrantalbedo.'The albedoproton The observationswere made with a directional energyloss spectrumis relatedto albedoneutronswhichmay be a source rangesolid statedetectortelescopewhich is physicallysimilar of protonstrapped in the inner radiation belt (seethe recent to one of the California Institute of Technology Ogo 6 detector review by White [1973]). No comprehensive measurements of the spectrumof splash albedo protons exist. Most observersquote only flux values over broad energy intervals rather than detailed energy spectra.McDonaldand Webber[1959] determinedthe sum of splashplus reentrant proton albedo in the 100- to 350-MeV energy region at geomagneticlatitudes of 4ø, 53ø, and 55øN without being able to distinguishbetweenthe two. Estimates of the reentrant proton albedo [Ormes and Webber, 1964; Bingham et al., 1968; Teegarden,1967] and of the splash proton albedo[McDonald, 1958;Hasegawaet al., 1965; Webber, 1967] are discussedfor latitudes mostly about 53ø-55øN and energies above 70 MeV. Ormes and Webber [1968] observedreentrant albedo protons between90 and 600 MeV with a Cherenkov scintillation counter telescopenear Ely, Minnesota, and Fayetteville, Arkansas. Verma [1967] observed the vertical splash and reentrant proton albedo spectrabetween37 and334 MeV nearPalestine, Texas,with a systems.The balloon-borneand Ogo 6 instrumentshave previouslybeendescribed[Althouseet al., 1968;Wenzel,1968, 1970;Garrard, 1972].A crosssectionof the AE rangetelescope is shownin Figure 1. The energylossAE is measuredin each of the solid state detectors D1, D2, and D3 by using 256- channelpulseheightanalyzers.The rangeof an incidentparticle is determinedby the numberof detectorsD4-D7 whichare penetrated by the particle. The absorbers A2-A6 are sandwiched between detectors D2-D7. The entire detector- absorberstack is surrounded,exce12tfor the entranceand exit apertures,by a plasticscintillatoranticoincidencecup D8. D1 is a totally depleted100-•tm-thicksurfacebarrier detector,and D2-D7 are lithium-drifted detectorswith depletion depthsof • 1000 tzm. The discriminatorson range detectorsD4-D7 have a low and a high threshold.The discriminationthresholdsare set so thatthelowdiscriminators will triggeron anycharged particle which penetratesthe detector,while the high discriminators AE range detector telescope. Pennypackeret al. [1973] will triggeronly on protonswhichhave an energyof lessthan measuredthe splashalbedo proton spectrumbetweenabout •300 MeV at the top of the detectorstack(or on any particle 110 and 1200 MeV with a magnetic spectrometer near with Z > 1). This feature aids in distir•guishingelectrons, Palestine. The only calculation of the intensity of albedo muons, and interacting protons. A second, higher-energy protonshas beenpublishedby Ray [1962, 1967].No previous detectorsystemmeasuringthe energylossof a particlein solid measurementsof splashalbedo protons near Fort Churchill state detectorsand its velocity in a Cherenkov radiator was have been reported. Copyright¸ 1975 by the American GeophysicalUnion flown in the same instrument, but its results will not be discussedin this paper. 358O WENZEL ET AL.' SPLASH ALBEDO PROTONS AT HIGH AND LOW LATITUDE The signaturesof the interactingevents were also determined. In the caseof the nominal R7 events,25% triggeredthe anticoincidenceD8, and 1, 5, 8, and 9% had range signatures of R3, R4, RS, or R6, respectively.These interactingevents, which contributeto the background,were further suppressed in the flight data by requiringthat the appropriatehigh-level discriminatorson D3-D7 be triggeredand by requiringthat the energylossesmeasuredin D2 and D3 be consistentwith the observedrange. By meansof thesetechniquesthe average interactionbackgroundsubtractionwas • 15%for the splash albedo flight data. In order to obtain more spectralinformationwe subdivided the R4 interval, which correspondsto the relatively wide energy interval of 48-157 MeV, into three intervals (R4A, R4B, and R4C) as indicatedin Table 2. This subdivisionwas basedon the measuredenergyloss in D2 and D3, which was •2.6 MeV in each for 48-MeV protons, decreasingto • 1 MeV for 157-MeV protons. Details of the data analysisprocedurehave been described by Wenzel[1968, 1970] and Garrard [1972]. GEOMETRICAL FACTOR (CM2'SR) Ul-2 1.521 D2-3 1.76 I D2.-4 I.;56 I D2-5 0.761 D2-6 0.451 ,D2-7 0.201 ABSORBER THICKNESS (G.CM -2) A2 AL 0.07 A3 W 2.9 A4 W 27.5 A5 W 31.0 A6 W 38.7 PM RCA 3581 4439 RESULTS Fig. 1. Schematic crosssectionof the detectorsystem. BALLOON FLIGHTS We report results from four series of balloon flights launched from Fort Churchill, Manitoba, in July 1966, June 1967, and June 1969 and from Palestine,Texas, in April 1967. In all of theseflightsthe sameinstrumentwas used,and the detectorsystemwas pointed toward the antizenith.A summary of the pertinentflight data is presentedin Table 1. The Mount Washingtonneutron monitor rates (J. A. Lockwood, privatecommunication, 1969)arethe averaged hourlyvalues for the time periods when the balloons were at floating altitudes. DATA ANALYSIS A valid particle event is describedby two pulse heights (eitherD 1 and D2 or D2 and D3), a rangeparameter,and discriminator parameters.Thesedata are convertedinto energy spectraby usinga telescoperesponsematrix basedon proton calibrations obtained at the Space Radiation Effects Laboratory as describedin detail by Garrard [1972]. The calibrations,whichwereperformedat sevenenergiesfrom 114 to 569 MeV and at sevenanglesof incidence,provided accurate estimatesof the effectsof nuclear interaction processes on the telescopedetection efficiency. For example, the observedrange was correctfor 97 + 1%, 86 + 1%, 65 + 1%, and 52 + 1% of the protonswhichshouldhave had nominal R4, R5, R6, or R7 signatures,respectively. TABLE 1. The proton splash albedo intensity shows no significant variations with altitude above •50 g/cm •'. As an example the 4- to 315-MeV proton ascentdata of two flightsat Palestine, Texas, which were combined in order to obtain better statisticalaccuracy,are shown in Figure 2, broken into discrete altitude intervals. The absence of intensity variations above50 g/cm•'is aswasexpected,sincethe splashalbedoflux consistsof particles produced in a large thickness of atmospherebelow the instrument. We shall thereforeassume for all flights that the energy spectrumof the splashalbedo observedat float altitudes also representsits spectrumat the top of the atmosphere. In Table 2 we summarize the results of the splashalbedo flightsfrom Fort Churchill in 1966, 1967,and 1969and from Palestine in 1967. Since the Mount Washington neutron monitor rates(which reflectthe parent nucleiintensity)during the two Fort Churchill flightsin 1966were nearly identical,we averagedthe resultsof both flights.Similarly,the two Palestine flightsweresummed.The total numberof protonsobservedat floatingaltitude in eachrangebin is listed.We alsopresentthe observednumber of protons that penetrated the complete detector-absorberstack (E > 315 MeV). Most of these are downwardmovingprimary protons.In the lowerpart of Table 2 we list the integral proton and alpha flux above 315 MeV/ nucleon derived from flights during the same observation periods with the detector system pointing upward. These primary fluxesare a measureof the level of solar modulation of the primary cosmicray spectrumresponsiblefor the albedo production. Balloon Flights Mount Washington Neutron Monitor Counting Launch Site Fort Churchill Fort Churchill Palestine Palestine Fort Churchill Fort Churchill Average Floating Floating Altitude, Time, hours Date Rate g/cm 2 July 3,1966 July 26,1966 April8,1967 Aprill7,1967 2365 2364 2262 2307 2292 2120 2.2 7.5 2.1 10.5 Launch June25,1967 June25,1969 4.5 4.1 1.7 3.7 3.0 9.7 13.8 14.2 3582 WENZEL ET AL.: SPLASH ALBEDO PROTONS AT HIGH AND LOW LATITUDE TABLE 2. SplashAlbedo Proton Flux as a Function of Energy for Three Flight Periodsin Fort Churchill in 1966, 1967, and 1969 and in Palestine in 1967 Fort Churchi]l 1966 Energyat Detector, No. of MeV Range R2 R3 R4A R4B R4C SplashAlbedo ProtonFlux, protons/m2s sr Protons 3.8-18.5 18.5-47.5 47.5-80 80-113 113-156.5 R5 156.5-235 R6 R7 235-315 >315 92 195 98 90 76 1967 MeV No. of SplashAlbedo ProtonFlux, protons/m2 s sr Protons MeV No. of 0.46 4- 0.05 0.42 4- 0.06 0.27 + 0.04 0.45 4- 0.05 0.36 4- 0.06 0.16 4. 0.04 40 103 54 61 28 19 0.08 4. 0.02 15 0.08.4- 0.02 10 4 1029 0.04 4- 0.02 4 781 0.05 + 0.02 25624-62 200 4- 15 0.69 4- 0.08 0.56 4- 0.05 I 598 2046+ 84 202 4- 17 Palestine, 1967 SplashAlbedo Proton Flux, protons/m• s sr Protons 68 128 77 61 39 Primaryprotons >315 Primaryalpha >(315 MeV)/n 0.76 4- 0.08 0.69 4- 0.05 1969 MeV No. of SplashAlbedo Proton Flux, protons/m•s sr Protons MeV 0.39 4- 0.06 0.43 4- 0.04 32 57 0.34 + 0.06 0.26 + 0.04 0.29 + 0.04 0.36 + 0.05 0.09 ñ 0.03 34 27 28 0.21 4- 0.04 0.16 4. 0.04 0.14 4. 0.03 0.05 + 0.02 8 0.04 + 0.02 0.01 + 0.01 3 321 0.04 4- 0.02 1406+ 48 129+ 11 642 4-48 105+ 21 particles The table includesfor comparisonthe integralfluxesof primaryprotonsand alphaparticles(in unitsof particles/m • s sr) above315 MeV/nucleon for the same flight periods. The splash albedo proton spectra measured near Fort Churchill are comparedin Figure 3. The shapesof the spectra in all 3 years of observationare very similar. The percentage changein the albedo is comparedin Table 3 with changesin other cosmic ray fluxes. As is indicated in this table, the changes in the splash albedo intensity are comparable to changesin the >320-MeV proton fluxesdue to solar modulation. Primaries between 0.3 and 2 GeV seem to make significant contributions to the albedo production. The splashalbedo spectra near Fort Churchill, Manitoba, and Palestine,Texas,are comparedin Figure 4. The spectraat the two latitudesare very similarin shape.They areessentially flat at low energies(about 10-40 MeV) and can be described by a power law E -• with 'V -• 2 above about 100 MeV. There is, however,a differencein intensityat lower energiesof about primariesof energiesabove the cutoff at Palestine(•4.5 GV) and that therefore the albedo intensity would become less latitude dependenttoward higher energies.The higher intensity at Fort Churchill indicatesthat primary cosmicrays below the 4.5-GV cutoff at Palestinecontribute significantlyto the production of splashalbedo protons.A similar conclusionwas reached by Israel [1969] for splash albedo electrons. No previous measurementsof splash albedo protons at latitudesabove •60 ø have beenreported. But severalobservations at geomagneticlatitudes of about 53ø-55øN exist. Since primariesbelow a few hundred MeV do not contributesignificantly to the albedo production, as can be seenfrom Table 3, albedo observationsat latitudes below a cutoff rigidity of about 1 GV (450-MeV protons) should be essentiallylatitude independent. Thus observations at geomagnetic latitudes above about 55ø should be comparable to our high-latitude data (Figure 5a). Hasegawaet al. [1965] measuredthe integral splashalbedo proton flux in 1959 near Sioux Falls (Xm = 53.5øN), using emulsions. Their flux of 0.15 ñ 0.01 proton/(m • s sr MeV) between66 and 300 MeV is an upper limit, sincetheir data are a factor of 2 between the two latitudes. Above • 100 MeV the not correctedfor sidewardparticles producedin the at- We observedsplashalbedoproton fluxesbetween4 and 315 MeV of 81 ñ 11, 70 ñ 11, and 48 + 8 protons/(m• s sr) at Fort Churchill for 1966, 1967, and 1969. The flux near Palestine in 1967 was 37 ñ 9 protons/(m• s sr). DISCUSSION difference is lessobvious. It canbeassumed thatthe•plash mosphereand packing materialsduring ascent.It albedo particles of higher energy,are mainly produced by is in agreement with our average flux for the 70- to 315-MeV interval ioo i z o i- u") o z o i- o x x [![t]tll Ii i •00 t IO i0 20 30 40 50 HIL KINETIC I02 I03 ENERGY (MeV) ATMOSPHERIC DEPTH(G/CM 2) Fig. 2. Flux of splashalbedoprotonsbetween4 and 315 MeV near Fig. 3. Differentialenergyspectraof splashalbedoprotonsnear Fort Palestine,Texas, as a function of atmosphericdepth. Churchill, Manitoba, in 1966, 1967, and 1969. WENZEL ET AL.' SPLASHALBEDO PROTONSAT HIGH AND LOW LATITUDE I ,11, I ] i i [ i 1 , i[ I i , ] i • 3583 TABLE 3. Comparison of Intensity Changes in the Albedo and Primary Fluxes Intensity Changes,% Component o I-o Splashalbedo Primary protons 1967 FT. CHURCHILL 1967 PALESTINE Energy 4-315 MeV 70-320 MeV* > 320 MeV* > 2 GeV• 1966-1967 1966-1969 -14 -48 -20 - 8 -41 -81 -46 - 28 x IO KINETIC Fig. 4. *Garrard [1972]; see also Garrard et al. [1973]. ]'Basedon changesin the Mount Washington neutron monitor rate and the regressioncurvesby Ormes and Webber [1968]. IO2 ENERGY (MeV) Differential energyspectraof splashalbedoprotonsnear Fort Churchill and Palestine in 1967. CALCULATION OF ALBEDO SPECTRUM The intensity of secondaryprotons created in nuclear interactionsof primary cosmicray particles(protons and a particles with air nuclei) and subsequentlytraveling through the atmosphere gyrating about magnetic field lines and losing energyby ionization in air was calculatedby Ray [1962, 1967], between 100 and 150 MeV from their data. Webber [1967] including the effects of nuclear interactions. derived a splashalbedo proton spectrumbetween80 and 300 We have made a number of improvementsin the approxMeV at 5-g/cm2 atmosphericdepth near Minneapolis from imations and functional relationshipsused by Ray and have measurementsof differentinvestigators.Sinceextrapolationto numerically integrated the resulting equation [cf. Ray, 1967, the top of the atmospheredoes not produce any significant equation (4)]. The calculated albedo spectra were, however, a change, this spectrum may be compared directly with our factor of 2 (at E < 100 MeV) to 4 (E > 100 MeV) higher than spectrumat Fort Churchill.Both spectraagreerelativelywell, the observedspectra.This discrepancyis most likely due to unat least below 150 MeV. certainties in using the Bristol data [Camerini et al., 1950, In Figure 5b we compare our splash albedo spectrum 1951; Powell et al., 1959] to describethe angular distribution measurednear Palestine,Texas, in April 1967 with that of and number of secondaryprotons produced by a nuclear inVerma [1967] measuredin May 1965and that of Pennypacker teraction. et al. [1973] measuredin 1970-1971. All spectraagree above We believe that the measurements present the correct about 100 MeV within the experimental errors. Below 100 spectrumand that improved calculationsof the albedo proton MeV, however,Verma's spectrumcontinuesto rise, while our spectrumshould be basedon a Monte Carlo techniqueusing spectrumflattens.The 2-year time differencebetweenthe two detailed nuclear cross-section data for protons in air. flightscannotbe responsible for the discrepancy in the spectral Acknowledgments. We thank T. L. Garrard for his assistance,esshape.Differencesin instrumentalresolutionand background pecially during the data analysis. We are very grateful to W. E. may be important; the present instrument was specifically Aithouse for the design of the electronicsand his support during designedfor high-resolution, low-background measurements measurements. J. A. Lockwood kindly supplied the Mount (Figure 5a). Ormesand Webber[1964]measuredthe spectrum of splashplus reentrantalbedoand the spectrumof reentrant albedo in Minneapolis (cutoff 1.3 GV) in 1963.By subtraction we deduceda splashalbedoflux of 0.17 proton/(m2 s sr MeV) below •45 MeV. Washingtonneutron monitor data. Most of this work was performed 111111 + (0) HIGH LATITUDES: • r--I HASEGAWAET AL. [1965],SIOUXFALLS ORMESANDWEBBER[1964], MINNEAPOLIS PALESTINE, TEXAS: VERMA [1967] • PENNYPACKER ET AL. [1973] •'• WEBBER [1967], MINNEAPOLIS Io (b) ,.• THIS EXPERIMENT "• THISEXPERIMENT, FT.CHURCHILL 10-3 I0 IO 102 KINETIC ENERGY IO2 IO3 (MeV) Fig. 5. Differential energyspectraof splashalbedo protons (a) at high latitudesand (b) near Palestine. 3584 WENZEL ET AL.: SPLASH ALBEDO PROTONS AT HIGH AND LOW LATITUDE during a stay of one of the authors(K.P.W.) at the California Institute of Technology,supportedby a NASA International Fellowship. It wascompletedaspart of a Ph.D. thesisat the Universityof Heidelberg in Germany. 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