On the Physical Origin and Prediction of Killer Electron Storms

Authors

R. SheldonFollow
Harlan E. Spence, Boston UniversityFollow
J. D. Sullivan
T. E. FritzFollow
J. Chen

Abstract

Killer electrons with energies greater than 1 MeV are the main environmental hazard to Earth orbiting satellites, causing single event upsets (SEU) in logic or memory circuits and catastrophic high-voltage discharges due to deep dielectric discharges (DDD). The loss of the Telstar 401 communications satellite on January 11, 1997, was thought to be due to a DDD occurring 24 hours after a sudden, thousand-fold increase in killer electrons. Yet despite the ~40 years of work since the discovery of the outer radiation belts, the origin of killer electrons is still unknown. Measurements taken onboard the POLAR satellite this past year have revealed a population of 20--1500 keV electrons with pitch angles, 60

Department

Physics

Publication Date

1-1-1998

Publisher

Boston University Center for Space Physics

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

Sheldon, R.; Spence, Harlan E.; Sullivan, J. D.; Fritz, T. E.; and Chen, J., "On the Physical Origin and Prediction of Killer Electron Storms" (1998). Physics & Astronomy. 254.
https://scholars.unh.edu/physics_facpub/254