Plasmaspheric hiss is known to play an important role in controlling the overall structure and dynamics of radiation belt electrons inside the plasmasphere. Using newly available Van Allen Probes wave data, which provide excellent coverage in the entire inner magnetosphere, we evaluate the global distribution of the hiss wave frequency spectrum and wave intensity for different levels of substorm activity. Our statistical results show that observed hiss peak frequencies are generally lower than the commonly adopted value (~550 Hz), which was in frequent use, and that the hiss wave power frequently extends below 100 Hz, particularly at larger L shells (> ~3) on the dayside during enhanced levels of substorm activity. We also compare electron pitch angle scattering rates caused by hiss using the new statistical frequency spectrum and the previously adopted Gaussian spectrum and find that the differences are up to a factor of ~5 and are dependent on energy and L shell. Moreover, the new statistical hiss wave frequency spectrum including wave power below 100 Hz leads to increased pitch angle scattering rates by a factor of ~1.5 for electrons above ~100 keV at L~5, although their effect is negligible at L ≤ 3. Consequently, we suggest that the new realistic hiss wave frequency spectrum should be incorporated into future modeling of radiation belt electron dynamics.

We investigate how whole populations of 2–6 MeV electrons can be quickly lost from the Earth's outer radiation belt at L= 3–6 through precipitation into the atmosphere due to quasi‐linear pitch angle scattering by combined electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) and whistler mode waves of realistic intensities occurring at the same or different local times. We provide analytical estimates of the corresponding relativistic electron lifetimes, emphasizing that the combined effects of both waves can lead to very fast (2–10 h) dropouts. Scaling laws for the loss timescales are derived, allowing us to determine the various plasma and wave parameter domains potentially leading to strong and fast dropouts. The analysis reveals that the fastest MeV electron dropouts occur at approximately the same rate over some high energy range and almost independently of EMIC wave amplitudes above a certain threshold. These results should help to better understand the dynamic variability of the radiation belts.

Whistler mode very low frequency (VLF) waves from powerful ground‐based transmitters can resonantly scatter energetic plasmaspheric electrons and precipitate them into the atmosphere. A comprehensive 4 year statistics of Van Allen Probes measurements is carried out to assess their consequences on the dynamics of the inner radiation belt and slot region. Statistical models of the measured wave electric field power and of the inferred full wave magnetic amplitude are provided as a function of L, magnetic local time, season, and Kp over L = 1–3, revealing the localization of VLF wave intensity and its variation with geomagnetic activity over 2012–2016. Since this VLF wave model can be directly used together with existing hiss and lightning‐generated wave models in radiation belt simulation codes, we perform numerical calculations of the corresponding quasi‐linear pitch angle diffusion rates, allowing us to demonstrate the crucial role played by VLF waves from transmitters in energetic electron loss at L < 2.5.

We simulate the radiation belt electron flux enhancements during selected Geospace Environment Modeling (GEM) challenge events to quantitatively compare the major processes involved in relativistic electron acceleration under different conditions. Van Allen Probes observed significant electron flux enhancement during both the storm time of 17–18 March 2013 and non–storm time of 19–20 September 2013, but the distributions of plasma waves and energetic electrons for the two events were dramatically different. During 17–18 March 2013, the SYM‐H minimum reached −130 nT, intense chorus waves (peak Bw ~140 pT) occurred at 3.5 < L < 5.5, and several hundred keV to several MeV electron fluxes increased by ~2 orders of magnitude mostly at 3.5 < L < 5.5. During 19–20 September 2013, the SYM‐H remained higher than −30 nT, modestly intense chorus waves (peak Bw ~80 pT) occurred at L > 5.5, and electron fluxes at energies up to 3 MeV increased by a factor of ~5 at L > 5.5. The two electron flux enhancement events were simulated using the available wave distribution and diffusion coefficients from the GEM focus group Quantitative Assessment of Radiation Belt Modeling. By comparing the individual roles of local electron heating and radial transport, our simulation indicates that resonant interaction with chorus waves is the dominant process that accounts for the electron flux enhancement during the storm time event particularly near the flux peak locations, while radial diffusion by ultralow‐frequency waves plays a dominant role in the enhancement during the non–storm time event. Incorporation of both processes reasonably reproduces the observed location and magnitude of electron flux enhancement.

Drastic variations of Earth's outer radiation belt electrons ultimately result from various competing source, loss, and transport processes, to which wave-particle interactions are critically important. Using 15 spacecraft including NASA's Van Allen Probes, THEMIS, and SAMPEX missions and NOAA's GOES and POES constellations, we investigated the evolution of the outer belt during the strong geomagnetic storm of 30 September to 3 October 2012. This storm's main phase dropout exhibited enhanced losses to the atmosphere at L* < 4, where the phase space density (PSD) of multi-MeV electrons dropped by over an order of magnitude in <4 h. Based on POES observations of precipitating >1 MeV electrons and energetic protons, SAMPEX >1 MeV electrons, and ground observations of band-limited Pc1-2 wave activity, we show that this sudden loss was consistent with pitch angle scattering by electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves in the dusk magnetic local time sector at 3 < L* < 4. At 4 < L* < 5, local acceleration was also active during the main and early recovery phases, when growing peaks in electron PSD were observed by both Van Allen Probes and THEMIS. This acceleration corresponded to the period when IMF Bz was southward, the AE index was >300 nT, and energetic electron injections and whistler-mode chorus waves were observed throughout the inner magnetosphere for >12 h. After this period, Bz turned northward, and injections, chorus activity, and enhancements in PSD ceased. Overall, the outer belt was depleted by this storm. From the unprecedented level of observations available, we show direct evidence of the competitive nature of different wave-particle interactions controlling relativistic electron fluxes in the outer radiation belt.

A new 3-D diffusion code is used to investigate the inward intrusion and slow decay of energetic radiation belt electrons (>0.5 MeV) observed by the Van Allen Probes during a 10 day quiet period on March 2013. During the inward transport, the peak differential electron fluxes decreased by approximately an order of magnitude at various energies. Our 3-D radiation belt simulation including radial diffusion and pitch angle and energy diffusion by plasmaspheric hiss and electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves reproduces the essential features of the observed electron flux evolution. The decay time scales and the pitch angle distributions in our simulation are consistent with the Van Allen Probe observations over multiple energy channels. Our study suggests that the quiet time energetic electron dynamics are effectively controlled by inward radial diffusion and pitch angle scattering due to a combination of plasmaspheric hiss and EMIC waves in the Earth's radiation belts.

Radiation belt electrons can exhibit different types of pitch angle distributions in response to various magnetospheric processes. Butterfly distributions, characterized by flux minima at pitch angles around 90°, are broadly observed in both the outer and inner belts and the slot region. Butterfly distributions close to the outer magnetospheric boundary have been attributed to drift shell splitting and losses to the magnetopause. However, their occurrence in the inner belt and the slot region has hitherto not been resolved. By analyzing the particle and wave data collected by the Van Allen Probes during a geomagnetic storm, we combine test particle calculations and Fokker‐Planck simulations to reveal that scattering by equatorial magnetosonic waves is a significant cause for the formation of energetic electron butterfly distributions in the inner magnetosphere. Another event shows that a large‐amplitude magnetosonic wave in the outer belt can create electron butterfly distributions in just a few minutes.

Accurately modeling the evolution of the electron radiation belts within the plasmasphere represents both an imperative goal for space weather forecasting and a great challenge. Combining previously developed approximate analytical expressions of electron lifetimes with recent statistical models of plasma density, ULF, whistler‐mode, and electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves, we demonstrate that geomagnetic activity and plasma density actually govern the inner structure of the radiation belts through several simple analytical scaling laws when Kp < 3. Many of the observed characteristic features of electron fluxes in the energy versus L shell parameter space are straightforwardly explained. In particular, the upper energy limit of significant electron fluxes at L = 1.5 is estimated as ∼1 MeV in agreement with recent satellite observations. This approximate analytical model represents a very simple and powerful tool for exploring and better understanding the complex variations of the inner structure of the radiation belts with geomagnetic activity during relatively quiet times.