Abstract We report measurements of gamma ray lines from the Earth's atmosphere observed by the gamma ray spectrometer on the Solar Maximum Mission satellite. The data are summed over 3.5 years and have excellent statistical accuracy. 20 line features within the range 0.3 to 8 MeV have been observed. Line intensities are consistent with models attributing them to neutron absorption by nitrogen and oxygen. The relative intensity of scattered radiation from the 0.511 MeV line suggests production at an average atmospheric depth of 21 g/cm2. These data allow a detailed comparison of gamma ray production models with experiment in a medium with known composition, geometry, and irradiation level and therefore serve as a good test subject for models of astrophysical gamma ray line sources.
Measurement of gamma-ray line intensities from the earth's atmosphere
Advances in Space Research ; 6 , 4 ; 133-137
1986-01-01
5 pages
Article (Journal)
Electronic Resource
English
Engineering Index Backfile | 1949
|Engineering Index Backfile | 1949
|Measurement of the earth's atmosphere Final report
NTRS | 1965
|TIBKAT | 1972
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