Three radiation belt flux dropout events seen by the Relativistic Electron Proton Telescope soon after launch of the Van Allen Probes in 2012 (Baker et al., 2013a) have been simulated using the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry MHD code coupled to the Rice Convection Model, driven by measured upstream solar wind parameters. MHD results show inward motion of the magnetopause for each event, along with enhanced ULF wave power affecting radial transport. Test particle simulations of electron response on 8 October, prior to the strong flux enhancement on 9 October, provide evidence for loss due to magnetopause shadowing, both in energy and pitch angle dependence. Severe plasmapause erosion occurred during~14 h of strongly southward interplanetary magnetic field B z beginning 8 October coincident with the inner boundary of outer zone depletion.

The Van Allen Probes spacecraft have provided detailed observations of the energetic particles and fields environment for coronal mass ejection (CME)‐shock‐driven storms in 2012 to 2013 which have now been modeled with MHD test particle simulations. The Van Allen Probes orbital plane longitude moved from the dawn sector in 2012 to near midnight and prenoon for equinoctial storms of 2013, providing particularly good measurements of the inductive electric field response to magnetopause compression for the 8 October 2013 CME‐shock‐driven storm. An abrupt decrease in the outer boundary of outer zone electrons coincided with inward motion of the magnetopause for both 17 March and 8 October 2013 storms, as was the case for storms shortly after launch. Modeling magnetopause dropout events in 2013 with electric field diagnostics that were not available for storms immediately following launch have improved our understanding of the complex role that ULF waves play in radial transport during such events.

The 17–18 March 2015 storm is the largest geomagnetic storm in the Van Allen Probes era to date. The Lyon‐Fedder‐Mobarry global MHD model has been run for this event using ARTEMIS data as solar wind input. The ULF wave power spectral density of the azimuthal electric field and compressional magnetic field is analyzed in the 0.5–8.3 mHz range. The lowest three azimuthal modes account for 70% of the total power during quiet times. However, during high activity, they are not exclusively dominant. The calculation of the radial diffusion coefficient is presented. We conclude that the electric field radial diffusion coefficient is dominant over the magnetic field coefficient by one to two orders of magnitude. This result contrasts with the dominant magnetic field diffusion coefficient used in most 3‐D diffusion models.

The NASA MErcury Surface, Space ENvironment, GEochemistry and Ranging (MESSENGER) spacecraft entered orbital phase around Mercury on 18 March 2011. A surprising consistent feature in the data returned is large-scale vortices that form exclusively on the dusk side of the magnetosphere. Here we present global kinetic hybrid simulations that explain these observations. It is shown that vortices are excited by a Kelvin-Helmholtz instability near the subsolar point, which grows convectively along the dusk-side magnetopause. Virtual time series along a track approximating a flyby of the MESSENGER show correspondence with the satellite data; the data contain sawtooth oscillations in plasma density, flow and magnetic field, and exhibit the observed dawn-dusk asymmetry. It is shown that asymmetry between dawn and dusk at Mercury is controlled by the finite gyroradius of ions and by convection electric fields. Mercury's magnetosphere offers a natural laboratory for studying plasma regimes not present in other planetary magnetospheres or the laboratory.

Geomagnetic storms often include strong magnetospheric convection caused by sustained periods of southward interplanetary magnetic field. During periods of strong convection, the Alfvén layer, which separates the region of sunward convection from closed drift shells, is displaced earthward allowing plasma sheet particles with energies in the hundreds of keV direct access inside of geosynchronous. Subsequent outward motion of the Alfvén boundary and adiabatic energization during storm recovery traps plasma sheet electrons on closed drift shells providing a seed population for the outer radiation belts. In situ observations of the 8-10 October 2012 geomagnetic storm and MHD test particle simulations illustrate the morphology of this process. Data and modeling results support the conclusion that recovery of ∼ 1 MeV electrons at geosynchronous is mainly due to global convection and dipolarization associated injections from the plasma sheet.

Balloon-borne instruments detecting radiation belt precipitation frequently observe oscillations in the millihertz frequency range. Balloons measuring electron precipitation near the poles in the 100 keV to 2.5 MeV energy range, including the MAXIS, MINIS, and most recently the Balloon Array for Relativistic Radiation belt Electron Losses balloon experiments, have observed this modulation at ULF wave frequencies. Although ULF waves in the magnetosphere are seldom directly linked to increases in electron precipitation since their oscillation periods are much larger than the gyroperiod and the bounce period of radiation belt electrons, test particle simulations show that this interaction is possible. Three-dimensional simulations of radiation belt electrons were performed to investigate the effect of ULF waves on precipitation. The simulations track the behavior of energetic electrons near the loss cone, using guiding center techniques, coupled with an MHD simulation of the magnetosphere, using the Lyon-Fedder-Mobarry code, during a coronal mass ejection (CME)-shock event on 17 March 2013. Results indicate that ULF modulation of precipitation occurs even without the presence of electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves, which are not resolved in the MHD simulation. The arrival of a strong CME-shock, such as the one simulated, disrupts the electric and magnetic fields in the magnetosphere and causes significant changes in both components of momentum, pitch angle, and L shell of radiation belt electrons, which may cause them to precipitate into the loss cone.

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[1] Two flybys of Mercury by the NASA MESSENGER spacecraft on January 14 and October 6, 2008 provide insight into the spatial distribution of the heavy ion exosphere around the planet. The relatively quiet solar wind conditions and interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) orientation allow us to compare "in situ" observations with numerical simulations. During each flyby, the IMF had a strong radial Sun-Mercury direction but nonzero northward and southward components for the first (M1) and second (M2) flybys, respectively. We show that comparative studies of particle tracing in stationary electromagnetic fields from a self-consistent hybrid kinetic model provide a good characterization of Mercury's sodium ion exosphere when compared with MESSENGER observations.