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Title: Source and seed populations for relativistic electrons: Their roles in radiation belt changes

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JA021234· OSTI ID:1236779
 [1];  [1];  [2]; ORCiD logo [3];  [3]; ORCiD logo [1];  [1];  [1];  [4];  [5];  [5];  [6];  [6];  [7];  [8]; ORCiD logo [9]
  1. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States)
  2. NOAA Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, CO (United States)
  3. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States); NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Boulder, CO (United States)
  4. NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD (United States)
  5. Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  6. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  7. Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (United States)
  8. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States)
  9. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)

Strong enhancements of outer Van Allen belt electrons have been shown to have a clear dependence on solar wind speed and on the duration of southward interplanetary magnetic field. However, individual case study analyses also have demonstrated that many geomagnetic storms produce little in the way of outer belt enhancements and, in fact, may produce substantial losses of relativistic electrons. In this study, focused upon a key period in August–September 2014, we use GOES geostationary orbit electron flux data and Van Allen Probes particle and fields data to study the process of radiation belt electron acceleration. One particular interval, 13–22 September, initiated by a short-lived geomagnetic storm and characterized by a long period of primarily northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), showed strong depletion of relativistic electrons (including an unprecedented observation of long-lasting depletion at geostationary orbit) while an immediately preceding, and another immediately subsequent, storm showed strong radiation belt enhancement. We demonstrate with these data that two distinct electron populations resulting from magnetospheric substorm activity are crucial elements in the ultimate acceleration of highly relativistic electrons in the outer belt: the source population (tens of keV) that give rise to VLF wave growth and the seed population (hundreds of keV) that are, in turn, accelerated through VLF wave interactions to much higher energies. ULF waves may also play a role by either inhibiting or enhancing this process through radial diffusion effects. Furthermore, if any components of the inner magnetospheric accelerator happen to be absent, the relativistic radiation belt enhancement fails to materialize.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
967399; NAS501072; AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1236779
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-15-27789
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 9; ISSN 2169-9380
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 203 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (29)

Observations of the impenetrable barrier, the plasmapause, and the VLF bubble during the 17 March 2015 storm: The Barrier, Plasmapause, and VLF Bubble journal June 2016
Prompt acceleration of magnetospheric electrons to ultrarelativistic energies by the 17 March 2015 interplanetary shock: RAPID ELECTRON ACCELERATION BY IP SHOCK journal August 2016
Assessing the Performance of EUHFORIA Modeling the Background Solar Wind journal December 2019
Anthropogenic Space Weather journal April 2017
Origins of the Ambient Solar Wind: Implications for Space Weather journal October 2017
Space Weather Effects in the Earth’s Radiation Belts journal December 2017
Remote Sensing of Radiation Belt Energetic Electrons Using Lightning Triggered Upper Band Chorus journal January 2019
Earth's Van Allen Radiation Belts: From Discovery to the Van Allen Probes Era journal November 2019
On the Initial Enhancement of Energetic Electrons and the Innermost Plasmapause Locations: Coronal Mass Ejection‐Driven Storm Periods journal November 2018
Observations and Fokker‐Planck Simulations of the L ‐Shell, Energy, and Pitch Angle Structure of Earth's Electron Radiation Belts During Quiet Times journal February 2019
Contribution of ULF Wave Activity to the Global Recovery of the Outer Radiation Belt During the Passage of a High‐Speed Solar Wind Stream Observed in September 2014 journal March 2019
Time Scales for Electron Quasi‐linear Diffusion by Lower‐Band Chorus Waves: The Effects of ω pe / Ω ce Dependence on Geomagnetic Activity journal June 2019
Comparison of Electron Loss Models in the Inner Magnetosphere During the 2013 St. Patrick's Day Geomagnetic Storm journal October 2019
Impact of Significant Time‐Integrated Geomagnetic Activity on 2‐MeV Electron Flux journal June 2019
Characterization and Evolution of Radiation Belt Electron Energy Spectra Based on the Van Allen Probes Measurements journal June 2019
Variation of Radiation Belt Electron Flux During CME‐ and CIR‐Driven Geomagnetic Storms: Van Allen Probes Observations journal August 2019
Longitudinal Extent of Magnetospheric ELF/VLF Waves using Multipoint PWING Ground Stations at Subauroral Latitudes journal December 2019
Comparison of Multiple and Logistic Regression Analyses of Relativistic Electron Flux Enhancement at Geosynchronous Orbit Following Storms journal December 2019
How Sudden, Intense Energetic Electron Enhancements Correlate With the Innermost Plasmapause Locations Under Various Solar Wind Drivers and Geomagnetic Conditions journal November 2019
Adiabatic Invariants Calculations for Cluster Mission: A Long‐Term Product for Radiation Belts Studies journal February 2020
From solar sneezing to killer electrons: outer radiation belt response to solar eruptions
  • Daglis, Ioannis A.; Katsavrias, Christos; Georgiou, Marina
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Anthropogenic Space Weather book January 2017
Adiabatic Invariants Calculations for Cluster Mission: A Long-Term Product for Radiation Belts Studies text January 2021

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