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Title: 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 Article · · Geophysical Research Letters
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2014GL062273· OSTI ID:1212451
 [1];  [1];  [1];  [1];  [2];  [3];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8]
  1. Dartmouth College, Hanover, NH (United States). Dept. of Physics and Astronomy.
  2. Univ. of California, Santa Cruz, CA (United States). Physics Dept. and Santa Cruz Institute for Particle Physics.
  3. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  4. Univ. of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, CO (United States). Cooperative Institute for Research in Environmental Sciences.
  5. Augsburg College, Minneapolos, MN (United States). Dept. of Physics.
  6. Southwest Research Inst. (SwRI), San Antonio, TX (United States)
  7. Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA (United States). Space Science Applications Lab.
  8. Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH (United States). Institute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space.
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Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves were observed at multiple observatory locations for several hours on 17 January 2013. During the wave activity period, a duskside relativistic electron precipitation (REP) event was observed by one of the Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL) balloons and was magnetically mapped close to Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite (GOES) 13. We simulate the relativistic electron pitch angle diffusion caused by gyroresonant interactions with EMIC waves using wave and particle data measured by multiple instruments on board GOES 13 and the Van Allen Probes. We show that the count rate, the energy distribution, and the time variation of the simulated precipitation all agree very well with the balloon observations, suggesting that EMIC wave scattering was likely the cause for the precipitation event. The event reported here is the first balloon REP event with closely conjugate EMIC wave observations, and our study employs the most detailed quantitative analysis on the link of EMIC waves with observed REP to date.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1212451
Journal Information:
Geophysical Research Letters, Vol. 41, Issue 24; ISSN 0094-8276
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 74 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (7)

Impact of Background Magnetic Field for EMIC Wave-Driven Electron Precipitation journal October 2018
Earth's Van Allen Radiation Belts: From Discovery to the Van Allen Probes Era journal November 2019
The Evolution of a Pitch‐Angle “Bite‐Out” Scattering Signature Caused by EMIC Wave Activity: A Case Study journal July 2019
EMIC Wave‐Driven Bounce Resonance Scattering of Energetic Electrons in the Inner Magnetosphere journal April 2019
Generation of EMIC Waves and Effects on Particle Precipitation During a Solar Wind Pressure Intensification With B z >0 journal June 2019
Rapid Precipitation of Relativistic Electron by EMIC Rising‐Tone Emissions Observed by the Van Allen Probes journal August 2019
On the Contribution of EMIC Waves to the Reconfiguration of the Relativistic Electron Butterfly Pitch Angle Distribution Shape on 2014 September 12—A Case Study journal February 2019

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