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4,10,x19267
MONITORING STROM TIME RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON ENHANCEMENT IN LOW EARTH ORBIT ON A
NANOSATELLITE PLATFORM
Author: Mr. Pramit Dash
Manipal Institute of Technology, India, pramitpdash@gmail.com
Mr. Adheesh Boratkar
Manipal Institute of Technology, India, adheesh.boratkar@learner.manipal.edu
Ms. Pallavi Reddy
Manipal Institute of Technology, India, reddy.pallavi1993@gmail.com
Ms. Ishita Bisht
Manipal Institute of Technology, India, bisht.ista@gmail.com
Mr. Soumitro Datta
Manipal Institute of Technology, India, soumitrodatta@gmail.com
Mr. Rodney Gracian DSouza
Manipal Institute of Technology, India, rodneygracian774@gmail.com

Monitoring Storm-time Relativistic Electron Enhancement in low earth orbit gains importance as this
phenomenon poses a serious threat to satellites in low earth orbit during the main and recovery phase of
solar storms. The low orbit satellites, being less prone to cosmic charged radiation, generally have less
radiation shielding compared to those in higher orbit. But due to relativistic electron enhancement, even
low earth orbit satellites especially nano-satellites would get affected. This phenomenon is caused due
to pitch angle scattering or radial diffusion of high energy electrons into low altitudes because of wave
particle interaction during a solar storm. A significant increase in total electron content will be observed
at low altitudes. The payload device selected for the task is the conjunction of a scintillator with a electron
pass band filter, a photo-multiplier tube (PMT) and a multichannel analyzer. The electron pass filter
will allow only high energy electrons into the scintillator system. The scintillator output is connected to
a photo-multiplier tube where signal amplification takes place. This output signal obtained is processed
by a multichannel analyzer which consists of a wave shaper and a digital counter. The output will be an
amplified electrical signal. Using Scintillography techniques, the intensity and the energy of the incident
electrons will be found. Based on this data, relativistic electron enhancement during the solar storm will
be monitored and this will give an idea of the dynamic nature of electron flux density with solar activity.
The nano-satellite will also be equipped with a MEMS based Hall-effect sensor to monitor changes in
geomagnetic field due to the solar storm and to observe correlations between the electron enhancement
and the geomagnetic storm. Thus, relativistic electron enhancements will be monitored and studied by
the data obtained from the device and radiation modeling will be done for the same. Based on this,
necessary shielding could be undertaken in future to safeguard nano-satellites against this phenomenon
as its impact on nano-satellites is not yet exactly known.

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INTRODUCTION
The LEO extends till approximately 2000 km above
the Earths surface, and has a highly dynamic
environment, which can have a significant effect on
the performance of satellites. It is usually composed
of high energy electrons, high speed heavy ions, UV
radiation, electromagnetic radiation, micrometeoroids
and thermal cycles. It also partially encapsulates the
inner Van Allen belt, which is a belt of highly
energetic particles held by the Earths magnetic field.
The inner Van Allen belt is basically composite of a
high concentration of electrons and protons that are
trapped by strong magnetic fields. The energy of the
electrons in the inner belt typically lies in the range
of a few 100 keV. The proton and electron fluxes in
LEOs are largely dependent on the solar wind
intensity. As a result, there would be a lot of variation
in the particle levels. The interaction of these high
energy particles with the spacecrafts surface leads to
the phenomenon of spacecraft charging, spacecraft
glow and heavy ion upsets.
A high electron flux causes excessive charging of
microelectronic devices and circuits within the
spacecraft, which in turn damages it and limits its
performance. Current absorbed from the plasma and
emission of photoelectrons when the spacecraft is
exposed to UV radiation causes external charging.
Adding to this, the light emitted by the spacecraft,
referred to as the spacecraft glow, due to the
atmospheric O & NO, affects the optical sensor
systems. Single event upsets, which are dependent on
solar cycles, are caused by collisions of high speed
heavy ions, which cause fluctuations in data and
sometimes permanent burning of circuitry. Thermal
cycling leads to fatigue cracking and outgassing,
which ruins the properties of the materials. [1]
In general, the space environment in LEO has a very
adverse effect on the spacecraft. Through our payload
device we would attempt to gain a better
understanding of the composition of the satellites
surrounding dynamic environment. The data thus
obtained could be further used to resolve the above
stated issues.
Researches pertaining to the study of relationship
between solar storm and relativistic electron flux,
have usually arrived at the conclusion that the trend is
rather dynamic, i.e., the electron flux tends to
sometimes increase and sometimes decrease with an

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increase in the solar activity. Hence, no quantifiable

measure is yet available to signify the effect of solar
activity on electron flux in the LEO.
The payload onboard the nano-satellite consists of a
three device combination scintillator, photo
multiplier tube and a multi-channel analyzer. These
devices together help measure the electron flux w.r.t
specific energy levels, at the given orbit of the
satellite. . With a magnetometer onboard, we can also
observe a trend between the electron flux and the
magnetic field values. This data is analyzed to map
the changes in the electron flux throughout the orbit
and to deduce its relationship with solar activity,
considering there are already models that relate the
solar storm activity with the magnetic field intensity.
Along with this, the relativistic electron flux can also
be plotted against a broad range of L-shells that the
orbit will cut through.
The final conclusions that can be drawn from our
analysis, can be used to refine the existing models in
this area.
NANO SATELLITE PLATFORM
The advent of Nano satellites has increased the scope
of research and experimentation in the space
environment. These satellites have proved to be more
economical in terms of development and functioning.
Considering these reasons, the payload was decided
to be implemented on a nano-satellite. However,
there are certainly more challenges presented when a
nano-satellite is used to conduct and perform such
experiments, typically due to the number of
constraints that are bound.
The most suitable nano satellite bus on which this can
be implemented is a 6U cubesat, i.e.
(30x20x10cm^3). The payload is allotted 2 to 4Us,
i.e., upto a volume of 20x10x10cm^3 to
20x20x10cm^3 and mass from 2 to 5kg. The power
generated on such satellites is typically 20W to 35W.
There is also a three-axis magnetometer that will
measure the magnetic field values at every position
that the satellite will cover during its orbit. This is
essential to get the correlation between magnetic
intensity and electron flux.

APPLICATION
Studies have concluded that the effect of solar
activity on radiation belt fluxes is a delicate and
complicated balance between effects of particle
acceleration and loss. Contrary to intuition,
relativistic electron flux does not always increase
during geomagnetic storms. These conclusions were
found to be independent of the strength of the storms
as
well
as
the
L-shells(Fig1)
[2]

Fig 1a-strong increase of relativistic electron fluxes

in response to the January 1997 geomagnetic storm.

Fig1b- A dramatic and permanent loss of electrons

throughout the outer belt in May 1999.

Fig1c- A -100 nT storm in February 1998 with peak

fluxes after the storm very similar to peak fluxes after
the storm.

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The higher radiation belt has clearly shown variation

in electron flux when it has encountered a solar storm
caused by a flare or a coronal mass ejection. But, it
isnt clear whether electron flux at low earth orbit
varies significantly with the solar storms. While a
flare or CME interacts with the earths magnetic
field, its interplanetary spiral magnetic field (IMF)
encounters the geomagnetic field and a bow shock is
created. And, if the inter-planetary magnetic field
has a southward alignment, magnetic reconnection
could happen creating a geomagnetic storm which
will result in the generation of ring current causing
inward diffusion of high energy electrons and protons
into the higher radiation belt. But, some electrons
already in the belt have a probability of scattering or
diffusing outwards which are then carried away by
the IMF. During the recovery phase of the storm, a
sub storm is created which again injects radiation
electrons from the magnetic tail onto the higher
radiation belt. One indication of sub storm is an
increase in the intensity of aurorae caused by
excessive electron precipitation.
Magnetic Reconnection is a phenomenon in which
the plasma magnetic energy is converted into kinetic
energy, thermal energy and particle acceleration. This
rapidly injects magnetic and mainly particle energy
into the magnetosphere which is the main cause for
increase in electron or particle flux in the radiation
belts during the solar wind or storm. When the suns
magnetic field aligns with that of earths; maximum
number of charged particles enters the sheath.

Fig 2-Magnetic Reconnection Diagram

The Dst index is considered to be an indicator of the

value called the ring current. This hourly index is
calculated as the horizontal variation of geomagnetic
field measured at four different observatories
distributed in longitude and near Earth equator. Thus,
if Dst index reaches -50 nT the event is considered as
a geomagnetic storm and if it passes -100 nT the
storm is considered as intense. Major geomagnetic
storms can reach more than -300 nT. These storms
are expected to show significant electron
enhancement in LEO. The moderate storms have a
Dst range of -30 to -100nT. Tadokoro (2007)
examined characteristics of Storm Time inner belt
Electron Enhancement at the Low Earth orbit
(STEEL), especially electrons at L=2.0 where is the
outer edge of inner belt at 300 keV electrons as
discussed in the paper, during small and moderate
magnetic storms (100 nT<minimum Dst<30 nT),
and clarified that the electron flux of the inner belt at
a low altitude increases by over one order of
magnitude during the main phase of storms, and the
duration of the enhancement is approximately 1 day.
Two mechanisms are suggested for this unusual flux
enhancement:
Pitch angle scattering: Pitch angle is the angle
between the electron trajectory velocity and the
magnetic field line. If the pitch angle is 90 degrees at
the equator, then the electron will mirror at lower
latitude. If the pitch angle is close to 0 or 180
degrees, then its mirror point will be below the
planet. So, before completing the cycle, it will get
lost. Hence, a cone is formed if its velocity vectors
are extended. This cone is simply loss cone. Because
of this loss, electron flux in the inner belt will
relatively increase. Mainly, at the poles, the two
radiation belts have a closer approach. Thus, the
electrons in the higher belt moving towards the poles
due to mirroring effect could drift inwards into the
lower belt. Pitch angle scattering is caused mainly
due to the following:
Coulomb Collisions during wave particle interaction
with atmospheric constituents- Electrons interact with
the atmospheric ions leading to coulomb collision
which leads to small-angle deflections. Under the
influence of geo-magnetic field during collision, if

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the pitch angle is >90 then the electrons fall into the
loss cone.

Resonant Scattering by ULF Waves with Whistler

Wavesgenerated during lightining, plasmaspheric
hiss or VLF transmitters. Recognition of a class of
prompt or fast ionospheric are interpreted as the
result of some type of more or less direct coupling
between the lower ionosphere and the fields
associated with a nearby lightning flashes. This
realization, augmented by reported observations of
lightning extending upward from thundercloud areas,
led to the identification of direct ionosphere heating
by VLF communication transmitters and by natural
lightning.
Radial Diffusion- Small random peturbations of the
electrons radial motion cause the electrons to move
inwardly like a gas. If the dipole is conserved the
electron has moved inward to a region of higher
magnetic field and as a result, its perpendicular
energy must increase. It was postulated (Falthammer,
1965) that this diffusion could occur as a result of
resonance between electrons drifting at the same
frequency as a Ultra Low Frequency Wave. Net
acceleration occurs when there is a higher phase
space density at larger values of L.
Electron Radiation Belt Loss MechanismsScattering due to a stretched field- Electrons are
scattered when the radius of the curvature of the
magnetic field is comparable to the gyro radius.

Fig3 scattering of an electron due to a stretched

field line

Higher energy particles will scatter at smaller values

of L where the field is less kinked because they have
larger gyro radii.
Adiabatic Motion - Electrons move due to changing
magnetic fields and induced electric fields causing
flux decreases.

As a result of all the above phenomena, the electron

radiation belts are highly variable. The fluctuations in
values of electron flux occur on very flexible
timescales as short as within a single day, perhaps.
Hence, collecting data pertaining to the same
(electron fluxes) over an extended period of time and
solar activity assumes relevant importance.
DEVICE
In accordance with the application, the task is to
measure electron flux throughout the orbit of the
satellite and to relate it to the magnetic field value at
the respective position. The device used to serve this
purpose is a scintillation counter. This scintillation
counter consists of the following components:
a) Scintillator
b) Wave guide
c) Photomultiplier tube
d) Multichannel Analyzer

Fig 4
Scintillator: A scintillator, which exhibits the
property of fluorescence when excited by ionizing
radiation, has to be very carefully selected. This is
because, if an inefficient scintillator is used, then the

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electrons suffer from back scattering and escape from

fluorescence. As the electron energy range in the
lower orbit is around a few hundreds of keV,
europium doped CaF2 crystals turn out to be a quite
efficient scintillator for the task as they are sensitive
to this range and to the gamma radiations too. But,
due to its low atomic number, its excitation or photo
fraction is quite small, hence limiting its detection of
high energy gamma rays and also minimizing
electron backscattering. Another huge advantage is
its low vapor pressure making it best suited for
vacuum operations. It has a refractive index of 1.47.
This value is closer to those of the light guides used
to couple PMT to the scintillator making it easy for
integration. It can increase the energy output
efficiency. An optimum thickness of the scintillation
material of 3 mm is chosen, as more thickness will
lead to self-absorption. This was calculated on the
basis of the Kanaya Okayama formula :
R in m = (0.0276 * A * E0^n)/Z^0.89*p;
Where R is the penetration depth
A is the molar weight (g/mole) =78.07 g/mole
E0 is the particle average energy in KV=100kV
Z is the atomic number =16.5
p is the density in (g/cm^3)=3.20
N is a constant equal to 1.67 for E>5kV
The peak wave length of the incident radiation is
430nm and decay time as 840ns.

Fig5 penetration depth vs incident energies

With the help of this graph, the thickness was
decided to be around 3mm for effective measurement

with minimum background radiation(noise). As a

result, particles with energy less than 800 keV will be
trapped by the scintillator. Now, the energy
deposition in the scintillator is equal to the energy
loss in the particle after interacting with the
scintillator. Thus, this energy deposition is given by:
-dE/dx=(4*pi*r2*z2*rm*N*Z*(ln(2*rm/I)-A)/b2 (1)
Where A= ln(1-b2)-b2)
(2)
dE/dx is the energy loss in the particle.
r= electron radius:
z= effective atomic number
rm=rest mass of electron
N is the molar mass
b= v/c;
I is the mean excitation potential given by
I=10eV*Z
(3)
Thus, this energy loss is equal to energy of the
radiated photons.
Light Guides: Light Guides play very
important role in coupling the scintillator onto the
PMT. They are basically optical clear fibers which
carry the photons generated by the scintillator onto
the PMT. The refractive index of the light guide
should be close to or slightly less than the index of
the scintillator. The fibers effectively behave as light
collimators by transmitting only the rays whose
incident angles meet the fibers requirement for total
internal reflection.

Fig 6 Function of Light Guide

The efficiency of light transmission through a light
guide depends on
the angle of total reflection
Conservation of phase space:

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The refractive index of the light guide core is selected

to be around 1.6 and of the clad to be around 1.5.
External Reflectors will be used so that every light
undergoes total internal reflection. Transparent mylar
with reflective coating will be efficient for the task.
Photo-multiplier tube: This device has a major
role as it amplifies the weak signal received from the
scintillator. The PMT used is a head-on type PMT. It
has the following major components:
1. Photocathode
2. Electron Directing Electrode
3. Dynode
4. Anode
5. Voltage stepper circuit
The photon flashes generated from the scintillator
due to an incident particle are incident on the
photocathode through the light guide. Due, to
photoelectric effect, photoelectrons are generated.
These photoelectrons are accelerated towards the
anode by higher potentials causing emission of
secondary electrons. Thus, finally at the output, an
amplified signal is obtained which is processed by a
pulse analyzer.
Photocathode:
This is the first part of PMT and the photons passed
through the light guide from the scintillator strike the
surface leading to emission of photoelectrons due to
photoelectric effect. As the PMT used is a head-on
type, a transmission mode photocathode is required.
The photocathode used is a Bialkali Sb-K-Cs as these
photocathodes have their peak spectral response in
the blue region (around 450nm) which is compatible
with the CaF2(Eu) scintillator we are using. This
photocathode has high sensitivity and is immune to
noise.
Radiant sensitivity (S), which is the ratio of
photoelectric current from the photocathode to the
incident radiant power for a specific wavelength
expressed in A/W (amperes per watt), peaks at
450nm. The conversion efficiency (photocathode
sensitivity) varies with the wavelength of the incident
light. This relationship between photocathode
sensitivity and wavelength is called the spectral
response characteristic. Thus, it helps in deciding the
material for the photocathode.
Quantum efficiency (QE), which is the ratio of
number of photoelectrons emitted from the
photocathode to the number of incident photons, is
a measure of the efficiency of the material, which is

used to get the photoelectron output for the given

incident photons.
QE= (S x 12400) /

(4)

Fig 7- Spectral Responsivity of Photocathode

Window Material:
The borosilicate glass will serve as the window
material for the PMT. It basically transmits all
wavelengths above 250nm which is suitable for
efficiently transmitting the photon energy in to the
PMT.

Dynodes:

Fig 8 PMT Dynode

Dynode used is a linear-focused type because of its
high response time. As time delay cant be accepted,
dynodes used for high speed applications are suitable
for the task. GaP (Cs) is one such dynode. Another
advantage of this dynode is that there is minimum
chance for saturation. 8 dynodes will be used and the
connection is linear focused with applied potential
between them. There are two options in applying
potential difference:
1. Ground Cathode and apply positive voltage
towards the anode end in an incremental
manner

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2.

Ground Anode and apply negative voltage

towards the cathode end in an incremental
manner
The second method is more suitable for high timing
applications. But, as a grounded scintillator has to be
coupled to the PMT, the first method is
recommended. The anode will be at the maximum
positive potential and the cathode at ground. In order
to achieve initial gain, the first dynode will be at a
higher potential so that the potential ratio of that of
the dynode1 and cathode is more than 3. Then, the
dynode potentials are made more positive moving
towards the anode which is at the maximum positive
potential.
Voltage Divider Circuit:
Inter stage voltages for the dynodes of a
photomultiplier tube are usually supplied by a
voltage-divider circuits consisting of seriesconnected resistors. It is better if the voltage-divider
current is maintained at least 15 times the average
anode output current required from the
photomultiplier tube. Most basic voltage divider can
be designed using required resistors. But, as the
device will be running at higher rates, high current
supply (>10mA) is required. If the voltage divider is
not able to supply required current, the electrons
suffer deceleration leading to undesired lag and
nonlinearity. Thus, a voltage divider with a current
transistor buffer is more appropriate for the purpose.
Here, the transistor in the common base configuration
acts as a current follower. At later stages, when
impedance is increased to avoid saturation,
impedance matching is required to efficiently supply
current across the chain. Thus, a transistor current
buffer will solve this problem by preventing the next
circuit loading the present circuit resulting in
undesired operation. Below is a circuit showing the
same. Capacitors mainly act as charge reservoirs. The
first stage has higher resistance in order to provide
initial high gain. Supply voltage is 2kV. As the main
satellite bus voltage is quite low, a voltage booster
integrated circuit is used to supply high voltage to the
anode.

Pulse Analyzer: The output current from the

PMT is given to a pulse analyzer which consists
of a current to voltage converter, a wave shaper
or a wave discriminator and a digital counter.
Two levels, upper level discrimination (ULD)
and lower level discrimination (LLD) are set in
order to filter noise due to dark current. The
pulse height analyzer will analyze the energy of
each incident particle based on the height of the
pulse.
Fig 9 Voltage Divider Circuit for Dynode
Current amplification is the ratio of the anode output
current to the photoelectric current from the
photocathode. Ideally, the current amplification of a
photomultiplier tube having n dynode stage and an
average secondary emission ratio per stage is n.
While the secondary electron emission ratio is
given by

Fig 11- Pulse Shaper

= A x E
[5]
where A is constant, E is an interstage voltage, and
is a coefficient determined by the dynode material
and geometric structure. It usually has a value of 0.7
to 0.8. When a voltage V is applied between the
cathode and the anode of a photomultiplier tube
having n dynode stages, current amplification, ,
becomes
= {A x (V/n+1)}n = K x Vn
[6]

Fig 12 - Calibration of Pulse Analyzer

Fig 10 Current application for applied voltage

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The LLD and ULD values are set while calibrating

the device on ground. Particles of known energies are
sent into the device and the calibration is done. If any
pulse is below LLD, that corresponds to the dark
current noise which is discarded by the analyzer. If
the pulse is higher than the ULD, then it is due to
high energy radiation. This could saturate the device
if exposed for a long time. Thus, after some time of
observation, if the high energy radiation is persistent,
the device is powered of in order to prevent
saturation. After the clearance of noise, the signal is
passed onto a digital counter which counts the
number of pulses accounting the pulse heights which
give the energy of the incident particle. Thus, the flux
and energy of the particle is obtained.

In the measurement of pulsed light, the anode output

signal should reproduce a waveform faithful to the
incident pulse waveform. This reproducibility is
greatly affected by the electron transit time, anode
pulse rise time and so on. Thus a response time of a
few hundreds of nanoseconds is expected after the
integration of the whole assembly.

S = anode radiant sensitivity in amperes per watt at

the wavelength of interest or anode luminous
sensitivity in amperes per lumen
It is necessary to calculate the SNR for the device, in
order to understand the efficiency of the device.
Moreover, most photomultiplier tubes are affected by
the presence of magnetic fields. Magnetic fields may
deflect electrons from their normal trajectories and
cause a loss of gain. The extent of the loss of gain
depends on the type of photomultiplier tube and its
orientation in the magnetic field. When a tube has to
be operated in magnetic fields, it may be necessary to
shield the tube with a magnetic shield case.

Fig13- Functionality of device

Required Shielding and Grounding:
Proper insulators (eg: Teflon) are required for
housing in order to prevent such undesired effects
like glass scintillation. Insulated shielding prevents
undesired effects which lead to degradation of the
materials using in the assembly.
Limitations:
A small amount of current flows in a photomultiplier
tube even when there is no input to it. This output
current, called the anode dark current, and the
resulting noise determine the detectivity of a
photomultiplier tube. Sources for dark current are:
Thermionic Emission, Leakage Current, Field
Emission.
Equivalent Noise Input (ENI) is a parameter used to
measure the signal to noise ratio of the device. It
refers to the amount of light usually in watts or
lumens necessary to produce a signal-to-noise ratio of
unity in the output of a photomultiplier tube. ENI is
expressed in units of lumens or watts.
ENI = sqrt(2 x q x I x x f/S)

ANALYSIS AND DATA USAGE

The Space
Environment
Information
System (SPENVIS) is a European Space Agency
(ESA) operational
software developed
and
maintained by the Belgian Institute for Space
Aeronomy since 1996. It provides a web-based
interface for assessing the space environment and its
effects on spacecraft systems and crews. To get a
rough estimate of the kind of electron flux that will
be encountered by the above mentioned mission, we
have used SPENVIS (AE8 model at solar maximum)
to generate graphs for a satellite in a 650km altitude
98O inclination polar orbit.
The graph below was generated using SPENVIS and
depicts the variation of the electron flux at each point
in the orbit. (Fig 14)

(7)

where,
q = electronic charge (1.60 10-19 coulomb.)
I = anode dark current in amperes
= current amplification
f = bandwidth of the system in hertz (usually 1
hertz)
Fig14 Electron Flux at various orbits (98)

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day we get 13774 readings per day. The satellite will

cross over the same point every 7th orbit, giving us
two readings in a day for any point on the orbit.
If due to power constrains the payload is shutdown in
the eclipse region, the frequency of reading can be
doubled. Thus the total number of readings does not
change, only the distance between two consecutive
readings becomes 22.5km.
The above calculations were done on the basis of the
following formulae:
D=2pi(Re+A)
d=t*V
n=T/t
N=n*number of orbits

Fig 15- Electron Flux vs Energy Spectrum

The above graph that depicts electron flux against the
energy spectrum was also essential for the
analysis.(Fig 15)
From the above graph, it can be concluded that
maximum number of electrons .are in the energy
range less than 800 keV.
The payload device onboard the satellite, also focuses
on the electron flux pertaining to energy levels less
than 800keV. The magnetometer readings will
provide the magnetic field intensity at each point in
the orbit. As a result, from this set of data, we can
plot a graph between electron flux and magnetic field
values, or location also, and compare the graphs with
those generated by SPENVIS, and observe if there
are any anomalies.
The procedure to map the electron flux is described
as follows.
Assuming the altitude of the circular orbit to be
650km and the radius of Earth to be 6400km, we get
the distance travelled in an orbit as 44274km.
Assuming we take readings every 6 seconds while
the satellite moves at a speed of 7.5km/s we can
deduce that each reading will be taken at points 45km
away along the satellite orbit.
From this data we can deduce that we will be getting
983 readings per orbit. Assuming 14 such orbits per

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(8)
(9)
(10)
(11)

Where,
Altitude of satellite A (650 km)
Radius of earth Re (6400 km)
Distance covered between two readings - d
Distance covered in one orbit - D
The speed of the satellite as - V
Time interval between two readings - t
The total time for taken to complete one orbit - T
Number of readings in an orbit - n
Total number of readings - N.
On the world map, we would be able to plot readings
for 7 orbits. This would give us two scatter plots for
every 14 orbit cycle (i.e. 1 day).
Adding a third axis Axis3 for time (unit 1day) and
superimposing such plots will facilitate the study of
variations in the electron fluxes over a long period of
time. If due to power constrains, the payload is shut
down in the eclipse region, only one such plot per
day would be obtainable to represent all the readings
taken in a day.
Another part of the analysis, involves observing a
trend between the integral electron flux and L shells.
From SPENVIS, the following graph was obtained,
that shows the L shell values that will be cut by the
satellites path. Another graph, that relates the
satellites orbit and the electron flux, can be used
with this to derive a relationship between L shells and
electron flux.

usage of a combination of many devices (scintillation

counting) under the constraints of a nano-satellite to
conduct such a research, does enhance the
importance of a nano platform to carry a payload.

REFERENCES

[1] - Spacecraft Interactions in a LEO Environment,

Alexander Barrie, December 1, 2004
[2] - Acceleration and Loss of Relativistic electrons
during Geo-magnetic storms Reeves, McAdams,
Friedel, 2003
Fig 16- L-shells intersection uring the course of
satellite orbit

[3] - Heliographic Particle Radiation : Universal

Processes and Problems J C Greene, Space Weather
Prediction Centre; 2008

Further conclusions between electron flux and solar

activity can be drawn, by including the relationship
between solar activity and magnetic field intensity.
As has been mentioned before, this relationship has
been quite dynamic, and so through our data, we will
try to analyze this correlation in detail.
The data obtained from our satellite could not only be
used to update the existing radiation models but also
could lead to exposing a relation between solar
activity and electron fluxes in the low earth orbit as
predicted by many scientists.

[4] - Radiation Detectors and Electronics - Helmeth

Spieler

CONCLUSION
Through this experiment, we get a better insight into
the space environment in the LEO, where many
satellites orbit. Hence, an estimate on the radiation
level intensity can be got and appropriate shielding
mechanisms can be incorporated to protect the
satellites from damage. In specific, a trend can be
observed between the electron flux values and the
solar activity, which until now has been under
speculation. In addition, existing models can be
refined by the data that will be generated at the end of
this study.
More importantly, it also elaborates the usage of a
nano satellite to help achieve the given objective. The

IAC-13,E2, 3-V.4,10,x19267

[5] - Photomultiplier Tubes: Construction and

Operating Characteristics, Connections to External
Circuits - Hamamatsu Photonics
[6] Day to day variation of geomagnetic H field and
equatorial ring current - M.E.James, R.G.Rastogi1
and H.Chandra
[7] - Electron Scattering loss in Earths Inner
Magnetosphere - Bob Abel, Richard M Thorne
[8] - Storm-time electron ux precipitation in the
inner radiation belt caused by wave-particle
interactions -H. Tadokoro, F. Tsuchiya, Y. Miyoshi,
Y. Katoh, A. Morioka and H. Misawa1