Possibility for Artificially Inducing Strong Pitch Angle Diffusion in the Magnetosphere
Abstract
The possibility of strong diffusion by driving intense Alfvenic turbulence in the radiation belts is examined. Intense Alfvenic turbulence is artificially induced by the release of neutral gas in the equatorial plane perpendicular to the ambient magnetic field. The free energy associated with the orbital motion of the released neutral atoms is the energy source of the Alfvenic turbulence. Ions resulting from the photo-ionized neutrals form a ring-type distribution in velocity that is highly unstable to shear Alfven waves near the ion cyclotron harmonics of the released species. The nonlinear evolution of the primary waves leads to redistribution of the wave energy in k-space and to excitation of secondary waves with characteristics appropriate for electron cyclotron resonance with the energetic electrons in the radiation belts that can induce intense pitch angle scattering of the trapped electrons. Release types and requirements to achieve the strong scattering limit are presented.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Apr 20, 2007
- Accession Number
- ADA466358
Entities
People
- G. Ganguli
- Konstantinos Papadopoulos
- Leonid Rudakov
- Manish Mithaiwala
Organizations
- United States Naval Research Laboratory