Direct Detection of Soft Radiation above 50 Kilometers in the Auroral Zone

Abstract

In two high-altitude rocket flights of thin-walled Geiger tubes at geomagnetic latitudes 64° and 74°N, a considerable intensity of soft radiation has been encountered above 50 kilometers altitude. No such radiation has been found in flights of identical equipment at 88.5° and at 55.6°. The radiation is tentatively interpreted as the high-energy tail of the auroral spectrum. It may consist of electrons.