Understanding the Driver of Energetic Electron Precipitation Using Coordinated Multisatellite Measurements

Academic Article

Abstract

  • AbstractMagnetospheric plasma waves play a significant role in ring current and radiation belt dynamics, leading to pitch angle scattering loss and/or stochastic acceleration of the particles. During a non‐storm time dropout event on 24 September 2013, intense electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves were detected by Van Allen Probe A (Radiation Belt Storm Probes‐A). We quantitatively analyze a conjunction event when Van Allen Probe A was located approximately along the same magnetic field line as MetOp‐01, which detected simultaneous precipitation of >30 keV protons and energetic electrons over an unexpectedly broad energy range (>~30 keV). Multipoint observations together with quasi‐linear theory provide direct evidence that the observed electron precipitation at higher energy (>~700 keV) is primarily driven by EMIC waves. However, the newly observed feature of the simultaneous electron precipitation extending down to ~30 keV is not supported by existing theories and raises an interesting question on whether EMIC waves can scatter such low‐energy electrons.
  • Authors

  • Capannolo, L
  • Li, W
  • Ma, Q
  • Zhang, X-J
  • Redmon, RJ
  • Rodriguez, JV
  • Kletzing, CA
  • Kurth, WS
  • Hospodarsky, GB
  • Engebretson, MJ
  • Spence, Harlan
  • Reeves, GD
  • Status

    Publication Date

  • July 28, 2018
  • Published In

    Keywords

  • EMIC waves
  • energetic particle precipitation
  • pitch angle scattering
  • radiation belts
  • wave particle interactions
  • Digital Object Identifier (doi)

    Start Page

  • 6755
  • End Page

  • 6765
  • Volume

  • 45
  • Issue

  • 14