Van Allen Probes Bibliography is from August 2012 through September 2021 Notice:
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Van Allen Probes show the inner radiation zone contains no MeV electrons: ECT/MagEIS data
Author | Fennell, J.; Claudepierre, S.; Blake, J.; O\textquoterightBrien, T.; Clemmons, J.; Baker, D.; Spence, H.; Reeves, G.; |
Keywords | inner magnetosphere; Inner radiation belt; Inner zone; trapped electrons; Van Allen Probes |
Abstract | We present Van Allen Probe observations of electrons in the inner radiation zone. The measurements were made by the ECT/MagEIS sensors that were designed to measure electrons with the ability to remove unwanted signals from penetrating protons, providing clean measurements. No electrons >900 keV were observed with equatorial fluxes above background (i.e. >0.1 electrons/(cm2 s sr keV)) in the inner zone. The observed fluxes are compared to the AE9 model and CRRES observations. Electron fluxes <200 keV exceeded the AE9 model 50\% fluxes and were lower than the higher energy model fluxes. Phase space density radial profiles for 1.3<=L*<2.5 had mostly positive gradients except near L*~2.1 where the profiles for μ = 20-30 MeV/G were flat or slightly peaked. The major result is that MagEIS data do not show the presence of significant fluxes of MeV electrons in the inner zone while current radiation belt models and previous publications do. |
Year of Publication | 2015 |
Journal | Geophysical Research Letters |
Volume | |
Number of Pages | |
Section | |
Date Published | 02/2015 |
ISBN | |
URL | http://doi.wiley.com/10.1002/2014GL062874 |
DOI | 10.1002/2014GL062874 |