Recent analysis of satellite data obtained during the 9 October 2012 geomagnetic storm identified the development of peaks in electron phase space density, which are compelling evidence for local electron acceleration in the heart of the outer radiation belt, but are inconsistent with acceleration by inward radial diffusive transport. However, the precise physical mechanism responsible for the acceleration on 9 October was not identified. Previous modelling has indicated that a magnetospheric electromagnetic emission known as chorus could be a potential candidate for local electron acceleration, but a definitive resolution of the importance of chorus for radiation-belt acceleration was not possible because of limitations in the energy range and resolution of previous electron observations and the lack of a dynamic global wave model. Here we report high-resolution electron observations obtained during the 9 October storm and demonstrate, using a two-dimensional simulation performed with a recently developed time-varying data-driven model, that chorus scattering explains the temporal evolution of both the energy and angular distribution of the observed relativistic electron flux increase. Our detailed modelling demonstrates the remarkable efficiency of wave acceleration in the Earth's outer radiation belt, and the results presented have potential application to Jupiter, Saturn and other magnetized astrophysical objects.

The near‐Earth neutral line (NENL) model of magnetospheric substorms is reviewed. The observed phenomenology of substorms is discussed including the role of coupling with the solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field, the growth phase sequence, the expansion phase (and onset), and the recovery phase. New observations and modeling results are put into the context of the prior model framework. Significant issues and concerns about the shortcomings of the NENL model are addressed. Such issues as ionosphere‐tail coupling, large‐scale mapping, onset triggering, and observational timing are discussed. It is concluded that the NENL model is evolving and being improved so as to include new observations and theoretical insights. More work is clearly required in order to incorporate fully the complete set of ionospheric, near‐tail, midtail, and deep tail features of substorms. Nonetheless, the NENL model still seems to provide the best available framework for ordering the complex, global manifestations of substorms.

Magnetic reconnection is a fundamental physical process in plasmas whereby stored 40 magnetic energy is converted into heat and kinetic energy of charged particles. 41Reconnection occurs in many astrophysical plasma environments and in laboratory 42 plasmas. Using very high time resolution measurements, NASA's Magnetospheric 43 2 Multiscale Mission (MMS) has found direct evidence for electron demagnetization and 44 acceleration at sites along the sunward boundary of Earth's magnetosphere where the 45 interplanetary magnetic field reconnects with the terrestrial magnetic field. We have (i) 46 observed the conversion of magnetic energy to particle energy, (ii) measured the electric 47 field and current, which together cause the dissipation of magnetic energy, and (iii) 48identified the electron population that carries the current as a result of demagnetization 49 and acceleration within the reconnection diffusion/dissipation region. 50 51 Introduction 52

International audienceThe MAVEN spacecraft launched in November 2013, arrived at Mars in September 2014, and completed commissioning and began its one-Earth-year primary science mission in November 2014. The orbiter’s science objectives are to explore the interactions of the Sun and the solar wind with the Mars magnetosphere and upper atmosphere, to determine the structure of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere and the processes controlling it, to determine the escape rates from the upper atmosphere to space at the present epoch, and to measure properties that allow us to extrapolate these escape rates into the past to determine the total loss of atmospheric gas to space through time. These results will allow us to determine the importance of loss to space in changing the Mars climate and atmosphere through time, thereby providing important boundary conditions on the history of the habitability of Mars. The MAVEN spacecraft contains eight science instruments (with nine sensors) that measure the energy and particle input from the Sun into the Mars upper atmosphere, the response of the upper atmosphere to that input, and the resulting escape of gas to space. In addition, it contains an Electra relay that will allow it to relay commands and data between spacecraft on the surface and Earth

The Van Allen radiation belts contain ultrarelativistic electrons trapped in Earth's magnetic field. Since their discovery in 1958, a fundamental unanswered question has been how electrons can be accelerated to such high energies. Two classes of processes have been proposed: transport and acceleration of electrons from a source population located outside the radiation belts (radial acceleration) or acceleration of lower-energy electrons to relativistic energies in situ in the heart of the radiation belts (local acceleration). We report measurements from NASA's Van Allen Radiation Belt Storm Probes that clearly distinguish between the two types of acceleration. The observed radial profiles of phase space density are characteristic of local acceleration in the heart of the radiation belts and are inconsistent with a predominantly radial acceleration process.

The Van Allen radiation belts are two regions encircling the Earth in which energetic charged particles are trapped inside the Earth's magnetic field. Their properties vary according to solar activity and they represent a hazard to satellites and humans in space. An important challenge has been to explain how the charged particles within these belts are accelerated to very high energies of several million electron volts. Here we show, on the basis of the analysis of a rare event where the outer radiation belt was depleted and then re-formed closer to the Earth, that the long established theory of acceleration by radial diffusion is inadequate; the electrons are accelerated more effectively by electromagnetic waves at frequencies of a few kilohertz. Wave acceleration can increase the electron flux by more than three orders of magnitude over the observed timescale of one to two days, more than sufficient to explain the new radiation belt. Wave acceleration could also be important for Jupiter, Saturn and other astrophysical objects with magnetic fields.

[1] Loss mechanisms responsible for the sudden depletions of the outer electron radiation belt are examined based on observations and radial diffusion modeling, with L*-derived boundary conditions. SAMPEX data for October-December 2003 indicate that depletions often occur when the magnetopause is compressed and geomagnetic activity is high, consistent with outward radial diffusion for L* > 4 driven by loss to the magnetopause. Multichannel Highly Elliptical Orbit (HEO) satellite observations show that depletions at higher L occur at energies as low as a few hundred keV, which excludes the possibility of the electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) wave-driven pitch angle scattering and loss to the atmosphere at L* > 4. We further examine the viability of the outward radial diffusion loss by comparing CRRES observations with radial diffusion model simulations. Model-data comparison shows that nonadiabatic flux dropouts near geosynchronous orbit can be effectively propagated by the outward radial diffusion to L* = 4 and can account for the main phase depletions of outer radiation belt electron fluxes.

[1] We have established the average shape and location of Mercury's magnetopause and bow shock from orbital observations by the MESSENGER Magnetometer. We fit empirical models to midpoints of boundary crossings and probability density maps of the magnetopause and bow shock positions. The magnetopause was fit by a surface for which the position R from the planetary dipole varies as [1 + cos(θ)]Àa , where θ is the angle between R and the dipole-Sun line, the subsolar standoff distance R ss is 1.45 R M (where R M is Mercury's radius), and the flaring parameter a = 0.5. The average magnetopause shape and location were determined under a mean solar wind ram pressure P Ram of 14.3 nPa. The best fit bow shock shape established under an average Alfvén Mach number (M A ) of 6.6 is described by a hyperboloid having R ss = 1.96 R M and an eccentricity of 1.02. These boundaries move as P Ram and M A vary, but their shapes remain unchanged. The magnetopause R ss varies from 1.55 to 1.35 R M for P Ram in the range of 8.8-21.6 nPa. The bow shock R ss varies from 2.29 to 1.89 R M for M A in the range of 4.12-11.8. The boundaries are well approximated by figures of revolution. Additional quantifiable effects of the interplanetary magnetic field are masked by the large dynamic variability of these boundaries. The magnetotail surface is nearly cylindrical, with a radius of~2.7 R M at a distance of 3 R M downstream of Mercury. By comparison, Earth's magnetotail flaring continues until a downstream distance of~10 R ss .