Latitude dependence of charged particle albedo estimated from balloon-borne Geiger telescopes

Abstract

From the atmospheric depth‐intensity distributions for a series of balloon flights with standard Geiger telescopes during the IQSY, the total charged particle intensity at the top of the atmosphere was obtained. The resulting charged albedo intensity, as function of cutoff rigidity, compares well with the estimates Webber (1967) obtained from balloon‐borne Cherenkov counter and satellite observations for recorders of 0.5 g cm−2. At high latitudes the percentage of albedo intensity corresponds to Webber’s splash albedo intensity, rising to the total (splash+re‐entrant) albedo intensity from about 55° to 40° invariant latitude.