[1] Satellites can be damaged by high energy charged particles in the Earth's radiation belts and during solar energetic particle (SEP) events. Here we review the growing reliance on satellite services, new vulnerabilities to space weather, and previous events that have led to loss of service. We describe a new European system to forecast the radiation belts up to 3 h ahead, which has three unique features: first, it uses physics-based models, which include wave-particle interactions; second, it provides a forecast for the whole outer radiation belt including geostationary, medium, and slot region orbits; third, it is a truly international effort including Europe, United States, and Japan. During the 8-9 March 2012 storm and SEP event, the models were able to forecast the >800 keV electron flux to within a factor of 2 initially, and later to within a factor of 10 of the GOES data. Although ACE and GOES data became unreliable during the SEP event, the system continued forecasting without interruption using ground-based magnetometers. A forecast of the 24 h electron fluence >2 MeV is used to provide a risk index for satellite operators. We show that including wave-particle interactions for L* > 6.5 improves the agreement with GOES data substantially and that a fast inward motion of the magnetopause to L* < 8 is related to rapid loss of relativistic electrons at geostationary orbit. Thus, we suggest that better wave-particle models and better coupling between the solar wind and the models of the magnetopause and radiation belts should lead to better forecasting.
Abstract. In this study we implement a data assimilation tool using a 3-D radiation belt model and an ensemble Kalman filter approach. High time and space reanalysis of the electron radiation belt fluxes is obtained over the time period 5 October to 25 October 1990 by combining sparse observations with the Salammbô 3-D model in an optimal way. The convergence of the ensemble Kalman filter is analyzed carefully. The risk of using a biased physical model is discussed and relative consequences are highlighted. Finally, a validation against CRRES data and major improvements compared to pure physics based model are presented.
[1] In this paper, we show that the correlation that exists between magnetic variations and induced electric fields through Faraday's law is of prime importance for adequately characterizing electromagnetic radial diffusion. Accordingly, we present an approach to derive electromagnetic radial diffusion coefficients based on magnetic field measurements at geostationary orbit. It consists of setting a very simple theoretical electromagnetic field model, considering the magnetic field as a background dipolar field on which two small time disturbances are superimposed: a symmetric disturbance and an asymmetric disturbance. Within this framework, electromagnetic radial diffusion is quantified analytically, taking into account both induced electric and magnetic contributions. The role played by the time variations of the field asymmetry is highlighted. From this, we deduce instantaneous field asymmetries from measurements of the magnetic field at the same time in two different places of the geostationary orbit. Then, we perform a statistical analysis of the time variations of this signal based on more than 7 years of data from the NOAA-GOES 8, NOAA-GOES 10, and NOAA-GOES 12 spacecraft, working with time resolutions of 1 and 5 min. We show that the asymmetry signal is not stationary, having time-dependent statistical properties, and we question accordingly the standard formulation of the electromagnetic radial diffusion coefficient and the role of drift-resonant interactions. Finally, we provide new electromagnetic radial diffusion coefficients at geostationary orbit as a function of electron kinetic energy and Kp index from 0 to 4. Citation: Lejosne, S., D. Boscher, V. Maget, and G. Rolland (2013), Deriving electromagnetic radial diffusion coefficients of radiation belt equatorial particles for different levels of magnetic activity based on magnetic field measurements at geostationary orbit,
Relativistic electrons dynamics is still challenging to predict during the main phase of a storm. In particular, three dimensions radiation belt models, for which temporal resolution is limited, fail in predicting their behavior, especially when dropouts occur. In this paper we present a new model of magnetopause shadowing losses to be incorporated into the ONERA Salammbô code in order to improve the model accuracy. We show in this paper that above a few hundred keVs, magnetopause shadowing is the first contribution to losses in the outer electron belt during dropout events. Global variations of Earth‐magnetopause distance and relativistic electron flux have been analyzed to establish the correlation between the magnetopause shadowing and dropouts on the outer electron radiation belt during geomagnetic storms. To that purpose, a Superposed Epoch Analysis has been done using NOAA Polar‐orbiting Operational Environmental Satellite 15 measurements. First, a list of 67 Stream Interfaces has been used to validate the method, and then the Superposed Epoch Analysis has been run over more than one solar cycle. Our results show that the model of magnetopause location we have developed fits well with a Superposed Epoch Analysis performed and that we are able to define a criteria based on it that detect intense dropouts. Finally, we have included this model in the Salammbô code, and we present here the improvements obtained as well as the validation made.
Past work of data reanalysis using the Salammbô three‐dimensional code and LANL satellite data was done on a magnetic storm timescale. Here, we focus on the solar cycle timescale reanalysis. We study the accuracy of the reconstitution of the electron radiation belts from 1990 to 2005 using data from Los Alamos instruments on GPS and GEO spacecrafts. First, we simulate the 9 October 1990 storm. By predicting fluxes at CRRES orbit, we estimate a confidence level and propose quantitative limitations on the current state of the art for chorus wave‐particle interaction modeling. By performing a run covering 15 a, we have been able to distinguish dynamics of different timescales and compare and validate our results with the statistical radiation belt models AE‐8 and CRRESELE. The main conclusion is that the history of the radiation belts is of prime importance in order to best fit their real state. Data reanalysis is a new and valuable way to describe them.
[1] In this paper, a new approach for the derivation of the instantaneous rate of change of the third adiabatic invariant is introduced. It is based on the tracking of the bounceaveraged motion of guiding centers with assumptions that are only kept to the necessary conditions for definition and conservation of the first two adiabatic invariants. The derivation is first given in the case of trapped equatorial particles drifting in a time varying magnetic field in the absence of electrostatic potential. It is then extended to more general cases including time varying electric potentials and non-equatorial particles. Finally, the general formulation of the third adiabatic invariant time derivative is related to the description of the radial diffusion process occurring in the radiation belts. It highlights the links that exist between previous theoretical works with the objective of a better understanding of the radial diffusion process. A theoretical validation in the specific case of equatorial particles drifting in a magnetic field model whose disturbed part is limited to the first terms of a spherical expansion is also presented.Citation: Lejosne, S., D. Boscher, V. Maget, and G. Rolland (2012), Bounce-averaged approach to radial diffusion modeling: From a new derivation of the instantaneous rate of change of the third adiabatic invariant to the characterization of the radial diffusion process,
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.