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Rapid flattening of butterfly pitch angle distributions of radiation belt electrons by whistler-mode chorus

Journal Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2016GL070194· OSTI ID:1402619
 [1];  [2];  [3];  [2];  [2];  [2];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8]
  1. Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China). Dept. of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences. Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology; Changsha Univ. of Science and Technology, Changsha (China). School of Physics and Electronic Sciences
  2. Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China). Dept. of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences. Collaborative Innovation Center of Astronautical Science and Technology
  3. Changsha Univ. of Science and Technology, Changsha (China). School of Physics and Electronic Sciences
  4. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States). Inst. for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space
  5. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States); The New Mexico Consortium, Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  6. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Lab. for Atmospheric and Space Physics
  7. Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  8. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
+ Show Author Affiliations

Van Allen radiation belt electrons exhibit complex dynamics during geomagnetically active periods. Investigation of electron pitch angle distributions (PADs) can provide important information on the dominant physical mechanisms controlling radiation belt behaviors. In this paper, we report a storm time radiation belt event where energetic electron PADs changed from butterfly distributions to normal or flattop distributions within several hours. Van Allen Probes observations showed that the flattening of butterfly PADs was closely related to the occurrence of whistler-mode chorus waves. Two-dimensional quasi-linear STEERB simulations demonstrate that the observed chorus can resonantly accelerate the near-equatorially trapped electrons and rapidly flatten the corresponding electron butterfly PADs. Finally, these results provide a new insight on how chorus waves affect the dynamic evolution of radiation belt electrons.

Research Organization:
Univ. of Science and Technology of China, Hefei (China); Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE; National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC); Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS); National Key Basic Research Special Foundation of China; Fundamental Research Funds for the Central Universities (China)
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1402619
Report Number(s):
LA-UR--16-26170
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Journal Name: Geophysical Research Letters Journal Issue: 16 Vol. 43; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

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Cited By (3)

Rapid Loss of Radiation Belt Relativistic Electrons by EMIC Waves journal October 2017
Generation of Lower L Shell Dayside Chorus by Energetic Electrons From the Plasma Sheet journal October 2018
The Efficiency of Coronal Mass Ejection With Different IMF Preconditions on the Production of Megaelectronvolt Electron Content in the Outer Radiation Belt journal May 2019

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Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Van Allen Probes
butterfly pitch-angle distribution
chorus waves
quasi-linear simulation
radiation belt
wave/particle interactions