Comparison of Electron Loss Models in the Inner Magnetosphere During the 2013~St. Patrick\textquoterights Day Geomagnetic Storm

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Abstract
Electrons with energies in the keV range play an important role in the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere. Therefore, accurately modeling electron fluxes in this region is of great interest. However, these calculations constitute a challenging task since the lifetimes of electrons that are available have limitations. In this study, we simulate electron fluxes in the energy range of 20 eV to 100 keV to assess how well different electron loss models can account for the observed electron fluxes during the Geospace Environment Modelling Challenge Event of the 2013 St. Patrick\textquoterights Day storm. Three models (Case 1, Case 2, and Case 3) of electron lifetimes due to wave-induced pitch angle scattering are used to compute the fluxes, which are compared with measurements from the Van Allen Probes. The three models consider electron losses due to interactions with whistler mode hiss waves inside the plasmasphere and with whistler mode chorus waves outside the plasmasphere. The Case 1 (historical) model produces excessive loss at low L shells before and after the storm, suggesting that it overestimates losses due to hiss during quiet times. During the storm main phase and early recovery all three models show good agreement with the observations, indicating that losses due to chorus during disturbed times are, in general, well accounted for by the models. Furthermore, the more recent Case 2 and Case 3 models show overall better agreement with the observed fluxes.
Year of Publication
2019
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Volume
124
Number of Pages
7872-7888
Date Published
09/2019
ISSN Number
2169-9380
URL
https://agupubs.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1029/2019JA026649
DOI
10.1029/2019JA026649
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