Analysis of proton and electron spectra observed by EPT/PROBA-V in the South Atlantic Anomaly

Proton and electron spectra observed by the Energetic Particle Telescope (EPT) on board the ESA satellite PROBA-V have been investigated at different locations in the South Atlantic Anomaly (SAA). The EPT spectrometer provides high-resolution measurements of the charged particle radiation environment in space performing with direct electron, proton and heavy ion discrimination. Dividing the SAA into 5 different bins of 5° × 5° each one for protons, we obtain that the average proton spectra have often similar slopes, but greatly differ from one location to another. The highest fluxes are generally located in the North of the SAA. For some energy ranges and time periods, the South of the SAA shows different shapes, indicating different sources for the North and South populations of the SAA. Electron spectra show very low fluxes of energetic electrons, often lower than what is provided by the model AE8.