Applications of radiation belt research

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

11-2-2011

Abstract

When Arthur Clark and John Pierce proposed geosynchronous and low-Earth-orbiting (GEO and LEO) communications satellites, respectively, they did not envision that the environment in which their concepts would fly would be anything but benign. Discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts in 1958 fundamentally altered understanding of Earth's near-space environment and its impacts on technologies. Indeed, the first commercial telecommunications satellite, Telstar 1, in LEO, failed some 6 months after launch (10 July 1962) due to trapped radiation that had been enhanced from the Starfish Prime high-altitude nuclear test on the day prior to launch. Today radiation trapped in the geomagnetic field, as well as solar energetic particles that can access the magnetosphere, forms critical constraints on the design and operations of satellite systems. These considerations were important factors in the planning of the AGU Chapman Conference on radiation belts that was hosted in July 2011 by the Memorial University of Newfoundland in St. John's, Canada (see "Chapman Conference on Radiation Belts and the Inner Magnetosphere," page 4). The conference presentations, discussions, and hallway conversations illuminated current understanding of Earth's radiation belts and critical issues remaining. Certainly, fundamental understanding of radiation belt origins remains elusive. The relative roles of adiabatic processes, geomagnetic storm injections, and wave heating, among other considerations, are central topics of intense debate and of competing modeling regimes by numerous active groups. Copyright © 2011 by the American Geophysical Union.

Identifier

80055053445 (Scopus)

Publication Title

Space Weather

External Full Text Location

https://doi.org/10.1029/2011SW000739

e-ISSN

15427390

Issue

10

Volume

9

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