Nearly all of the available information on space-craft charging due to hot (keV) plasma pertains to geosynchronous altitude. An altitude-dependent model is therefore necessary for estimating charging parameters for spacecraft at other altitudes (e.g., GPS). This paper describes a probability model which is an extension of altitude-dependent calculations previously published (Reference 1). The probabilitiy of hot plasma with a given energy density being formed in the geomagnetic tail was calculated from the probabilities of various solar wind parameters (the 'tube-of-tooth-paste' model). The lowest altitude which the plasma could reach was calculated by equating its energy density to that of a dipole-approximated geomagnetic field. The probabilities thus calculated decrease from -10 percent (at geomagnetic altitude) to less than 0,1 percent (for GPS altitudes) to less than 10(exp-4) percent (at 3.5 RE altitude, measured from the center of the earth).
Spacecraft charging probabilities as a function of altitude
Wahrscheinlichkeit fuer Aufladungseffekte bei Satelliten in Abhaengigkeit von der Hoehe
IEEE Transactions on Nuclear Science ; 25 , 6/Dez. ; 1318-1323
1978
6 Seiten, 9 Bilder, 3 Tabellen, 4 Quellen
Article (Journal)
English
An altitude-dependent spacecraft charging model
NTRS | 1977
|Spacecraft Charging Anomaly on a Low-Altitude Satellite in an Aurora
Online Contents | 1996
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