Ion Heating by Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron Waves and Magnetosonic Waves in the Earth's Inner Magnetosphere

Abstract

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves and magnetosonic waves are commonly observed in the Earth's magnetosphere associated with enhanced ring current activity. Using wave and ion measurements from the Van Allen Probes, we identify clear correlations between the hydrogen‐ and helium‐band EMIC waves with the enhancement of trapped helium and oxygen ion fluxes, respectively. We calculate the diffusion coefficients of different ion species using quasi‐linear theory to understand the effects of resonant scattering by EMIC waves. Our calculations indicate that EMIC waves can cause pitch angle scattering loss of several keV to hundreds of keV ions, and heating of tens of eV to several keV helium and oxygen ions by hydrogen‐ and helium‐band EMIC waves, respectively. Moreover, we found that magnetosonic waves can cause the resonant heating of thermal protons. Our study indicates the importance of energy transfer from the EMIC and magnetosonic waves to ions with different species at thermal energies.

Document Details

Document Type
Pub Defense Publication
Publication Date
Jun 24, 2019
Source ID
10.1029/2019gl083513

Entities

People

  • Chao Yue
  • Craig Kletzing
  • Geoffrey D Reeves
  • George G. Hospodarsky
  • Harlan Spence
  • Jacob Bortnik
  • Qianli Ma
  • Richard Thorne
  • Wen Li
  • William S. Kurth

Organizations

  • Air Force Office of Scientific Research
  • Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
  • Boston University
  • Los Alamos National Laboratory
  • National Aeronautics and Space Administration
  • National Science Foundation
  • University of Iowa

Tags

Fields of Study

  • Physics

Readers

  • Plasma Physics / Magnetohydrodynamics
  • Plasma Physics.
  • Solar Physics