A Satellite Study of the High Energy Proton Environment Under the Radiation Belt.

Proton data from outside of the South Atlantic Radiation anomaly was obtained by the high energy neutron and proton detector aboard OSO-6. Since the observed proton flux resulted from different source mechanisms, a procedure was developed to compute and separate the different contributions. New evidence substantiated the hypothesis that one or both of the processes of radial and pitch angle diffusion play active roles in the origin and distribution of the protons in the inner radiation belt. It was argued that these processes drive the trapped protons in the radiation belt into the regions where stable trapping is not possible. The diffusing flux was computed; however, certain assumptions might have led to an incorrect estimation of the diffusing protons flux. In addition, the flux and energy spectrum of the albedo protons were derived at three different regions.