Understanding the Driver of Energetic Electron Precipitation Using Coordinated Multisatellite Measurements
Abstract
Magnetospheric 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.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Pub Defense Publication
- Publication Date
- Jul 19, 2018
- Source ID
- 10.1029/2018gl078604
Entities
People
- Craig Kletzing
- Geoffrey D Reeves
- George G. Hospodarsky
- Harlan Spence
- Juan Rodriguez
- Luisa Capannolo
- Mark Engebretson
- Qianli Ma
- R. J. Redmon
- Wen Li
- William S. Kurth
- Xiao-Jia Zhang
Organizations
- Air Force Office of Scientific Research
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Augsburg University
- Boston University
- Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory
- Los Alamos National Laboratory
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration
- National Science Foundation
- University of Iowa
- University of New Hampshire