Том 53, № 1 (2019)

Second-order derivatives of the Earth’s potential in a local north-oriented coordinate system are expanded in series of modified spherical harmonics. Linear relations are derived between the spectral coefficients of these series and the spectrum of the geopotential. Based on these relations, recurrent procedures are developed for estimating the geopotential coefficients from the spectrum of each derivative and, conversely, for simulating the spectrum from a known geopotential model. The very simple structure of the expressions for the derivatives is convenient for estimating the coefficients of the geopotential by the least squares method at a certain step of processing satellite gradiometry data. Since the new series are orthogonal, the method with a quadrature formula can be applied, which helps avoid aliasing errors caused by the truncation of the series. The spectral coefficients of the derivatives are estimated using the derived relations for different models on an average orbital sphere of the GOCE satellite and at other altitudes above the Earth’s surface.

Crossings of the heliospheric current sheet (HCS) at the Earth’s orbit are often associated with observations of anisotropic beams of energetic protons accelerated to energies from hundreds of keV to several MeV and above. A connection between this phenomenon and the occurrence of small-scale magnetic islands (SMIs) near reconnecting current sheets has recently been found. This study shows how pre-accelerated protons can be energized additionally due to oscillations of multiple SMIs inside the ripple of the reconnecting HCS. A model of the electromagnetic field of an oscillating 3D SMI with a characteristic size of ~0.001 AU is developed. A SMI is supposed to be bombarded by protons accelerated by magnetic reconnection at the HCS to energies from ~1keV to tens of keV. Numerical simulations have demonstrated that the resulting longitudinal inductive electric fields can additionally reaccelerate protons injected into a SMI. It is shown that there is a local “acceleration” region within the island in which particles gain energy most effectively. As a result, their average escape energies range from hundreds of keV to 2 MeV and above. There is almost no particle acceleration outside the region. It is shown that energies gained by protons significantly depend on the initial phase and the place of their entry into a SMI but weakly depend on the initial energy. Therefore, low-energy particles can be accelerated more efficiently than high-energy particles, and all particles can reach the total energy limit upon their escape from a SMI. It is also found that the escape velocity possesses a strong directional anisotropy. The results are consistent with observations in the solar wind plasma.

The LP/OMPS limb sensor of the Suomi satellite detected the atmospheric trace of the Chelyabinsk superbolide with an energy of over 400 kt TNT in 2013. The study of LP/OMPS data shows that it detects several bolides with much less energy each year. The paper considers the cases of observation of three bolides in 2016–2017: on February 6, 2016 (13 kt), March 3, 2016 (0.19 kt), and March 9, 2017 (1 kt). The possibility of improving the detection of bolides using a limb sensor in the form of a microsatellite with an increased number of observation regions along the horizon is discussed. Several such microsatellites will be able to track most of the bodies larger than a meter that burn up in the atmosphere of the Earth or Mars.