skip to main content
OSTI.GOV title logo U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information

Title: Energetic Electron Precipitation: Multievent Analysis of Its Spatial Extent During EMIC Wave Activity

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1029/2018JA026291· OSTI ID:1597373
ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [2]; ORCiD logo [1]; ORCiD logo [3]; ORCiD logo [4]; ORCiD logo [5]; ORCiD logo [6]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [7]; ORCiD logo [8]; ORCiD logo [9]; ORCiD logo [10]
  1. Boston Univ., MA (United States). Center for Space Physics
  2. Boston Univ., MA (United States). Center for Space Physics; Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  3. Univ. of California, Los Angeles, CA (United States)
  4. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Cooperative Inst. for Research in Environmental Sciences
  5. Univ. of Colorado, Boulder, CO (United States). Cooperative Inst. for Research in Environmental Sciences; National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), Boulder, CO (United States)
  6. Univ. of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN (United States)
  7. Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (United States)
  8. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States). Inst. for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space
  9. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States). Space Science and Applications Group
  10. Univ. of Oulu, Sodankylä (Finland). Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory
+ Show Author Affiliations

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves can drive precipitation of tens of keV protons and relativistic electrons, and are a potential candidate for causing radiation belt flux dropouts. In this study, we quantitatively analyze three cases of EMIC-driven precipitation, which occurred near the dusk sector observed by multiple Low-Earth-Orbiting (LEO) Polar Operational Environmental Satellites/Meteorological Operational satellite programme (POES/MetOp) satellites. During EMIC wave activity, the proton precipitation occurred from few tens of keV up to hundreds of keV, while the electron precipitation was mainly at relativistic energies. We compare observations of electron precipitation with calculations using quasi-linear theory. For all cases, we consider the effects of other magnetospheric waves observed simultaneously with EMIC waves, namely, plasmaspheric hiss and magnetosonic waves, and find that the electron precipitation at MeV energies was predominantly caused by EMIC-driven pitch angle scattering. Interestingly, each precipitation event observed by a LEO satellite extended over a limited L shell region (ΔL ~ 0.3 on average), suggesting that the pitch angle scattering caused by EMIC waves occurs only when favorable conditions are met, likely in a localized region. Furthermore, we take advantage of the LEO constellation to explore the occurrence of precipitation at different L shells and magnetic local time sectors, simultaneously with EMIC wave observations near the equator (detected by Van Allen Probes) or at the ground (measured by magnetometers). Our analysis shows that although EMIC waves drove precipitation only in a narrow ΔL, electron precipitation was triggered at various locations as identified by POES/MetOp over a rather broad region (up to ~4.4 hr MLT and ~1.4 L shells) with similar patterns between satellites.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA)
Grant/Contract Number:
89233218CNA000001; AGS-1723588; FG-2018-10936; NAS5-01072; FA9550-15-1- 0158
OSTI ID:
1597373
Report Number(s):
LA-UR-19-32273; TRN: US2103107
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics, Vol. 124, Issue 4; ISSN 2169-9380
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 38 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

References (74)

Temporal and Spatial Correspondence of Pc1/EMIC Waves and Relativistic Electron Precipitations Observed With Ground‐Based Multi‐Instruments on 27 March 2017 journal December 2018
Electron densities inferred from plasma wave spectra obtained by the Waves instrument on Van Allen Probes: Van Allen Probes Electron Densities journal February 2015
Radiation belt electron acceleration by chorus waves during the 17 March 2013 storm: ELECTRON ACCELERATION BY CHORUS WAVES journal June 2014
EMIC Wave Events During the Four GEM QARBM Challenge Intervals journal August 2018
Energetic Particle Precipitation and the Chemistry of the Mesosphere/Lower Thermosphere journal November 2012
Multipoint observations of magnetospheric compression-related EMIC Pc1 waves by THEMIS and CARISMA journal January 2008
The Balloon Array for RBSP Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL) journal March 2013
POES MEPED differential flux retrievals and electron channel contamination correction journal June 2015
Energetic Proton Spectra Measured by the Van Allen Probes journal October 2017
Global distribution of EMIC waves derived from THEMIS observations: GLOBAL DISTRIBUTION OF EMIC WAVES journal May 2012
An association between discrete aurora and energetic particle boundaries journal January 1984
The Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) on RBSP journal June 2013
Cluster observations of EMIC triggered emissions in association with Pc1 waves near Earth's plasmapause: OBSERVATIONS OF EMIC TRIGGERED EMISSIONS journal May 2010
Global simulation of proton precipitation due to field line curvature during substorms: PROTON AURORA IN OPENGGCM journal May 2012
Ground pulsation magnetometer observations conjugated with relativistic electron precipitation: REP/Geomagnetic Pulsations Relationship journal September 2017
Ducting characteristics of Pc 1 waves at high latitudes on the ground and in space: DUCTING CHARACTERISTICS OF Pc 1 WAVES journal September 2010
Warm plasma effects on electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave MeV electron interactions in the magnetosphere: EMIC WAVES AND MEV ELECTRONS journal May 2011
Explaining sudden losses of outer radiation belt electrons during geomagnetic storms journal January 2012
EMIC wave scale size in the inner magnetosphere: Observations from the dual Van Allen Probes journal February 2017
The controlling effect of ion temperature on EMIC wave excitation and scattering: HOT PLASMA EFFECT ON EMIC WAVES journal August 2011
Modeling for precipitation loss of ring current protons by electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves journal January 2011
EMIC wave spatial and coherence scales as determined from multipoint Van Allen Probe measurements journal May 2016
Radiation belt dynamics: The importance of wave-particle interactions: FRONTIER journal November 2010
Rapid local acceleration of relativistic radiation-belt electrons by magnetospheric chorus journal December 2013
Nonstorm time dropout of radiation belt electron fluxes on 24 September 2013: NONSTORM RADIATION BELT DROPOUT journal July 2016
Potential waves for relativistic electron scattering and stochastic acceleration during magnetic storms journal August 1998
A statistical study of EMIC waves observed by Cluster: 2. Associated plasma conditions: EMIC Plasma Conditions journal July 2016
Use of POES SEM-2 observations to examine radiation belt dynamics and energetic electron precipitation into the atmosphere: POES OBSERVATIONS OF EEP journal April 2010
Relativistic electron pitch-angle scattering by electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves during geomagnetic storms journal January 2003
Effect of EMIC waves on relativistic and ultrarelativistic electron populations: Ground-based and Van Allen Probes observations: Usanova et al.: EMIC Waves and Relativistic Electrons journal March 2014
Correction of detector noise and recalibration of NOAA/MEPED energetic proton fluxes: TECHNIQUE journal September 2012
Electron scattering by magnetosonic waves in the inner magnetosphere: ELECTRON SCATTERING BY MS WAVES journal January 2016
Multipoint observations of Pc1-2 waves in the afternoon sector: MULTIPOINT OBSERVATIONS OF PC1-2 journal September 2009
Electron losses from the radiation belts caused by EMIC waves journal November 2014
Understanding the Driver of Energetic Electron Precipitation Using Coordinated Multisatellite Measurements journal July 2018
Observations of electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves during geomagnetic storms: Wave occurrence and pitch angle scattering journal March 2001
Science Objectives and Rationale for the Radiation Belt Storm Probes Mission journal September 2012
Energetic Particle Influence on the Earth’s Atmosphere journal September 2015
Nonresonant interactions of electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves with relativistic electrons: EMIC WAVE NONRESONANT SCATTERING journal October 2016
Van Allen probes, NOAA, GOES, and ground observations of an intense EMIC wave event extending over 12 h in magnetic local time: EMIC WAVES AND THE RADIATION BELTS journal July 2015
Investigating energetic electron precipitation through combining ground‐based and balloon observations journal January 2017
Formation of 30 KeV Proton Isotropic Boundaries During Geomagnetic Storms journal May 2018
Resonant scattering of outer zone relativistic electrons by multiband EMIC waves and resultant electron loss time scales journal September 2015
Spatial Distribution of Fine-Structured and Unstructured EMIC Waves Observed by the Arase Satellite journal November 2018
On the presence and properties of cold ions near Earth's equatorial magnetosphere: Magnetospheric cold ions journal March 2014
Storm time observations of electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves at geosynchronous orbit: GOES results: EMIC WAVES AND STORMS, GOES RESULTS journal May 2010
In‐flight calibration of NOAA POES proton detectors—Derivation of the MEPED correction factors
  • Sandanger, Marit Irene; Ødegaard, Linn‐Kristine Glesnes; Nesse Tyssøy, Hilde
  • Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 11 https://doi.org/10.1002/2015JA021388
journal November 2015
A Monte Carlo simulation of the NOAA POES Medium Energy Proton and Electron Detector instrument: TECHNIQUE journal October 2011
A Statistical Study of Spatial Variation of Relativistic Electron Precipitation Energy Spectra With Polar Operational Environmental Satellites journal May 2018
Statistical Investigation of the Efficiency of EMIC Waves in Precipitating Relativistic Electrons journal August 2018
Multi‐MeV electron loss in the heart of the radiation belts journal February 2017
Climate impact of idealized winter polar mesospheric and stratospheric ozone losses as caused by energetic particle precipitation journal January 2018
Quasi-linear diffusion coefficients for field-aligned electromagnetic waves with applications to the magnetosphere: QUASI-LINEAR DIFFUSION COEFFICIENTS journal August 2005
Evidence of sub‐MeV EMIC‐driven electron precipitation journal February 2017
Relativistic electron precipitation by EMIC waves from self-consistent global simulations: EMIC WAVES AND RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS journal March 2008
Investigation of EMIC wave scattering as the cause for the BARREL 17 January 2013 relativistic electron precipitation event: A quantitative comparison of simulation with observations journal December 2014
Observations of coincident EMIC wave activity and duskside energetic electron precipitation on 18-19 January 2013: EMIC Waves and Electron Precipitation journal July 2015
Electron acceleration in the Van Allen radiation belts by fast magnetosonic waves journal January 2007
Relativistic electron precipitation as seen by NOAA POES journal September 2016
Resonant scattering of central plasma sheet protons by multiband EMIC waves and resultant proton loss timescales journal February 2016
Direct evidence for EMIC wave scattering of relativistic electrons in space: EMIC-Driven Electron Losses in Space journal July 2016
Link between EMIC waves in a plasmaspheric plume and a detached sub-auroral proton arc with observations of Cluster and IMAGE satellites: EMIC WAVES AND DETACHED PROTON ARC journal April 2010
A Statistical Study of the Spatial Extent of Relativistic Electron Precipitation With Polar Orbiting Environmental Satellites: SPATIAL SCALE OF REP EVENTS journal November 2017
Pc1-Pc2 waves and energetic particle precipitation during and after magnetic storms: Superposed epoch analysis and case studies: Pc1-Pc2 WAVES AND PRECIPITATION journal January 2008
Simulated magnetopause losses and Van Allen Probe flux dropouts journal February 2014
Model of the energization of outer-zone electrons by whistler-mode chorus during the October 9, 1990 geomagnetic storm: MODEL OF ENERGIZATION OF OUTER-ZONE ELECTRONS journal December 2002
Acceleration and loss of relativistic electrons during geomagnetic storms: ACCELERATION AND LOSS OF RELATIVISTIC ELECTRONS journal May 2003
Review of radiation belt relativistic electron losses journal March 2007
Precipitation of radiation belt electrons by EMIC waves, observed from ground and space journal January 2008
Dynamic evolution of energetic outer zone electrons due to wave-particle interactions during storms: EVOLUTION OF ENERGETIC ELECTRONS journal October 2007
Resonant scattering and resultant pitch angle evolution of relativistic electrons by plasmaspheric hiss: RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON SCATTERING BY HISS journal December 2013
Global morphology and spectral properties of EMIC waves derived from CRRES observations journal July 2014
An empirically observed pitch-angle diffusion eigenmode in the Earth's electron belt near L *  = 5.0 journal January 2014
Science Goals and Overview of the Radiation Belt Storm Probes (RBSP) Energetic Particle, Composition, and Thermal Plasma (ECT) Suite on NASA’s Van Allen Probes Mission journal October 2013

Similar Records

Multiple loss processes of relativistic electrons outside the heart of outer radiation belt during a storm sudden commencement
Journal Article · Tue Nov 10 00:00:00 EST 2015 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics · OSTI ID:1597373
+5 more
Compression-amplified EMIC waves and their effects on relativistic electrons
Journal Article · Wed Jun 15 00:00:00 EDT 2016 · Physics of Plasmas · OSTI ID:1597373
Simultaneous Observations of Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) Waves and Pitch Angle Scattering During a Van Allen Probes Conjunction
Journal Article · Sat Apr 04 00:00:00 EDT 2020 · Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics · OSTI ID:1597373
+3 more

Related Subjects

79 ASTRONOMY AND ASTROPHYSICS
Heliospheric physics
Magnetospheric Physics
energetic electron precipitation
EMIC waves
pitch angle scattering
radiation belts dropouts
quasi‐linear theory