Detection of the third innermost radiation belt on LEO CORONAS-Photon satellite around 2009 solar minimum

We analyze variations of high energy charged particle populations filling various magnetospheric regions under, inside and outside of the Van Allen inner and outer electron radiation belts in May 2009. The study is based on the experimental data obtained from the STEP-F and the SphinX instruments placed close to each other aboard the low-Earth circular orbit CORONAS–Photon satellite. Data analysis of particle fluencies collected from the highly sensitive STEP-F device indicates the presence of a persistent electron belt at L ≈ 1.6, i.e., beneath the well-known Van Allen electron inner radiation belt of the Earth’s magnetosphere. Cross-analyses of data obtained from the STEP-F and SphinX instruments initially built for various purposes made it possible to detect the highly anisotropic character of the spatial electron distribution in radiation belts in both Southern and Northern hemispheres. We detected also the presence of low-energy electrons at all latitudes during the main phase of a weak geomagnetic storm.