[1] During a passage through the Earth's dawn-side outer radiation belt, whistler-mode waves with amplitudes up to more than $240 mV/m were observed by the STEREO S/WAVES instrument. These waves are an order of magnitude larger than previously observed for whistlers in the radiation belt. Although the peak frequency is similar to whistler chorus, there are distinct differences from chorus, in addition to the larger amplitudes, including the lack of drift in frequency and the oblique propagation with a large longitudinal electric field component. Simulations show that these large amplitude waves can energize an electron by the order of an MeV in less than 0.1s, explaining the rapid enhancement in electron intensities observed between the STEREO-B and STEREO-A passage during this event. Our results show that the usual theoretical models of electron energization and scattering via small-amplitude waves, with timescales of hours to days, may be inadequate for understanding radiation belt dynamics. Citation: Cattell, C., et al. (2008), Discovery of very large amplitude whistler-mode waves in Earth's radiation belts, Geophys. Res. Lett., 35, L01105,
Abstract. The disappearance and reappearance of outer zone energetic electrons during the November 3-4, 1993, magnetic storm is examined utilizing data from the Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX), the Global Positioning System (GPS) series, and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) sensors onboard geosynchronous satellites. The relativistic electron flux drops during the main phase of the magnetic storm in association with the large negative interplanetary B z and rapid solar wind pressure increase late on November 3. Outer zone electrons with E > 3 MeV measured by SAMPEX disappear for over 12 hours at the beginning of November 4. This represents a 3 orders of magnitude decrease down to the cosmic ray background of the detector. GPS and LANL sensors show similar effects, confirming that the flux drop of the energetic electrons occurs near the magnetic equator and at all pitch angles. Enhanced electron precipitation was measured by SAMPEX at L -> 3.5. The outer zone electron fluxes then recover and exceed prestorm levels within one day of the storm onset and the inner boundary of the outer zone moves inward to smaller L (< 3). These multiplesatellite measurements provide a data set which is examined in detail and used to determine the mechanisms contributing to the loss and recovery of the outer zone electron flux. The loss of the inner part of the outer zone electrons is partly due to the adiabatic effects associated with the decrease of Dst, while the loss of most of the outer part (those electrons initially at L -> 4.0) are due to either precipitation into the atmosphere or drift to the magnetopause because of the strong compression of the magnetosphere by the solar wind. The recovery of the energetic electron flux is due to the adiabatic effects associated with the increase in Dst, and at lower energies (<0.5 MeV) due to rapid radial diffusion driven by the strong magnetic activity during the recovery phase of the storm. Heating of the electrons by waves may contribute to the energization of the more energetic part (>1.0 MeV) of the outer zone electrons.
Abstract. The strong increase in the¯ux of relativistic electrons during the recovery phase of magnetic storms and during other active periods is investigated with the help of Hamiltonian formalism and simulations of test electrons which interact with whistler waves. The intensity of the whistler waves is enhanced signi®cantly due to injection of 10±100 keV electrons during the substorm. Electrons which drift in the gradient and curvature of the magnetic ®eld generate the rising tones of VLF whistler chorus. The seed population of relativistic electrons which bounce along the inhomogeneous magnetic ®eld, interacts resonantly with the whistler waves. Whistler wave propagating obliquely to the magnetic ®eld can interact with energetic electrons through Landau, cyclotron, and higher harmonic resonant interactions when the Doppler-shifted wave frequency equals any (positive or negative) integer multiple of the local relativistic gyrofrequency. Because the gyroradius of a relativistic electron may be the order of or greater than the perpendicular wavelength, numerous cyclotron, harmonics can contribute to the resonant interaction which breaks down the adiabatic invariant. A similar process diuses the pitch angle leading to electron precipitation. The irreversible changes in the adiabatic invariant depend on the relative phase between the wave and the electron, and successive resonant interactions result in electrons undergoing a random walk in energy and pitch angle. This resonant process may contribute to the 10±100 fold increase of the relativistic electron¯ux in the outer radiation belt, and constitute an interesting relation between substorm-generated waves and enhancements in¯uxes of relativistic electrons during geomagnetic storms and other active periods.
Abstract. In the present work, a test particle simulation is performed in a model of analytic Ultra Low Frequency, ULF, perturbations in the electric and magnetic fields of the Earth's magnetosphere. The goal of this work is to examine if the radial transport of energetic particles in quiettime ULF magnetospheric perturbations of various azimuthal mode numbers can be described as a diffusive process and be approximated by theoretically derived radial diffusion coefficients. In the model realistic compressional electromagnetic field perturbations are constructed by a superposition of a large number of propagating electric and consistent magnetic pulses. The diffusion rates of the electrons under the effect of the fluctuating fields are calculated numerically through the test-particle simulation as a function of the radial coordinate L in a dipolar magnetosphere; these calculations are then compared to the symmetric, electromagnetic radial diffusion coefficients for compressional, poloidal perturbations in the Earth's magnetosphere. In the model the amplitude of the perturbation fields can be adjusted to represent realistic states of magnetospheric activity. Similarly, the azimuthal modulation of the fields can be adjusted to represent different azimuthal modes of fluctuations and the contribution to radial diffusion from each mode can be quantified. Two simulations of quiet-time magnetospheric variability are performed: in the first simulation, diffusion due to poloidal perturbations of mode number m=1 is calculated; in the second, the diffusion rates from multiple-mode (m=0 to m=8) perturbations are calculated. The numerical calculations of the diffusion coefficients derived from the particle orbits are found to agree with the corresponding theoretical estimates of the diffusion coefficient within a factor of two.
[1] The sudden appearance of a new radiation belt consisting of electrons with energies greater than 13 MeV near 2.5 Earth radii (R E ), was observed by CRRES (Combined Radiation and Release Experiment Satellite) on 24 March 1991. Li et al. (1993) showed that the cause was an electromagnetic pulse within the Earth's magnetosphere caused by an unusually strong, fast shock in the solar wind. Sudden shock-induced injections of electrons with energies above 10 MeV to equatorial distances within 2.5 R E are extremely rare because of the intensity of the shock required. In the current study, the propagation velocity parameter and electric field amplitude of pulses within the magnetosphere in the Li et al. model were varied from 750 to 2500 km/s and 70 to 400 mV/m, respectively. It was found that a stronger electric field shifted the peak of the resultant relativistic electron population toward the Earth. Doubling the electric field amplitude from 120 to 240 mV/m moved the peak of the injected electrons with energies above 13 MeV from 2.8 to 2.4 R E . However, as the electric field pulse becomes even larger, the increase in response diminishes. This asympotic behavior shows that it is extremely difficult to produce energetic electron injections inside two Earth radii. The nominal propagation velocity (velocity parameter) is compared to the radial propagation velocities that would have been measured under this model and others and compared to observation. It is found that although the model radial velocity is smaller than the velocity parameter and decreasing with radial distance, it is faster than MHD results and observations. Decreasing the nominal propagation velocity of the pulse within the magnetosphere from 2500 km/s to 1400 km/s also moved the peak of the injected electrons with energies above 13 MeV slightly closer to the Earth. However, at velocities smaller than approximately 1200 km/s the number of electrons injected within 2.5 Earth radii with energies above 13 MeV greatly decreased. Halving the velocity from 2000 to 1000 km/s shifted the peak of electrons with energy greater than 13 MeV from L = 2.6 to L = 2.4 but produced a count rate reduced by a factor of more than 250, resulting in no significant new radiation belt. These results show that the typical large electromagnetic impulses caused by interplanetary shocks, with amplitudes of the order of 10 mV/m, are more than an order of magnitude too small to produce any significant new radiation belts within 2.5 Earth radii with energies of the order of 10 MeV. Contributing to the difficulty in producing such a new belt is the need for an already relativistic electron population with adequate flux beyond geosynchronous orbit. These results thus also help explain the rarity of events such as the 24 March 1991 injection.Citation: Gannon, J. L., X. Li, and M. Temerin (2005), Parametric study of shock-induced transport and energization of relativistic electrons in the magnetosphere,
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