CRRES project in Oulu

spaceweb@oulu.fi - last update: 14 November 2000 (RR)

A joint Department of Defence/NASA mission, Combined Release and Radiation Effects satellite (CRRES), was on orbit in the Earth 's magnetosphere between July 1990 and October 1991. It was a near equatorial satellite with an apogee of about 7 Re (Earth radii) which studied the Earth's near space environment including the radiation belts and the ionosphere. The data obtained helps, for example, the spacecraft designers to protect their hardware as well as the astronauts against the harmful radiation belt particles.

Using active releases of chemicals (primarily barium, calsium, and lithium), the satellite studied also several different plasma processes. For example,

the critical velocity ionization hypothesis was verified
production of aurora was tested by attempts to create artificial aurora
ion motion along magnetic field lines were studied

In addition, also more conventional studies about, e.g.,

formation of the radiation belts, and
magnetospheric substorms

has been conducted using the CRRES data.

The cooperation with the Max-Planck-Institut für Aeronomie (MPAe), Katlenburg-Lindau, Germany, provided the Space Physics Group of Oulu with electron (21.5-285 keV) and ion (37-3200 keV) data from the MEB instrument, as well as the magnetic field data with the necessary time resolution (0.125 s) to define the pitch angle distributions of the particles. Studies were initiated by the visiting professor from MPAe, Dr. Gerhard Kremser. In addition to substorms (Lazutin et al., 1998; Sergeev et al., 1998), the Oulu group has studied the EMIC waves with the data (Rasinkangas et al., 1994).

CRRES related publications by the Oulu group

Rasinkangas, R., K. Mursula, G. Kremser, H. J. Singer, B. J. Fraser, A. Korth, and W. J. Hughes, Simultaneous occurrence of Pc 5 and Pc 1 pulsations in the dawnside magnetosphere: CRRES observations, in Solar Wind Sources of Magnetospheric Ultra-Low-Frequency Waves, Geophys. Monogr. Ser., vol 81, edited by M. J. Engebretson, K. Takahashi, and M. Scholer, pp. 417-424, AGU, Washington, D.C., 1994.
Lazutin, L. L., R. Rasinkangas, T. V. Kozelova, A. Korth, H. Singer, G. Reeves, W. Riedler, K. Torkar, and B. B. Gvozdevsky, Observations of substorm fine structure, Ann. Geophys., 16, 775-786, 1998.
Sergeev, V. A., M. A. Shukhtina, R. Rasinkangas, A. Korth, G. D. Reeves, H. J. Singer, M. F. Thomsen, and L. I. Vagina, Event study of deep energetic particle injections during substorm, J. Geophys. Res., 103, 9217-9234, 1998.