Effects of the Absorption of Solar XUV Radiation by the Earth's Upper Atmosphere at Altitudes of 100-500 km in the X-ray Solar Images Obtained Onboard the Coronas-I (TEREK Telescope) and Coronas-F (SPIRIT X-ray Complex) Satellites

摘要

We consider the effects of the absorption of solar XUV radiation by the Earth's atmosphere that were observed in the solar images obtained with the TEREK-K telescope onboard the Coronas-I satellite in May-June 1994 at low solar activity and with the SPIRIT instrumentation onboard the Coronas-F satellite in October-November 2001 at maximum solar activity. The solar images were recorded during the satellite occul-tation: in the 175- and 304-A spectral ranges onboard Coronas-I with the TEREK-K telescope and in the 175-, 304-, and 8.42-A ranges onboard Coronas-F with the SPIRIT instrumentation. Based on the XUV solar images obtained during atmospheric sounding, apart from the total absorption, we can determine the direction of the atmospheric density gradient and study the local absorption variations with altitude on spatial scales of less than 1 km. The described method can significantly supplement the data obtained in studies of the upper atmosphere by the methods of mass spectrometry, incoherent radar scattering, and the drag of orbital spacecraft.