Bibliography

Suprathermal Electron Evolution Under the Competition Between Plasmaspheric Plume Hiss Wave Heating and Collisional Cooling

Suprathermal electrons are a major heat source of ionospheric plasma. How the suprathermal electrons evolve during their bounces inside the plasmasphere is a fundamental question for the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling. On the basis of Van Allen Probes observations and quasi-linear simulations, we present here the first quantitative study on the evolution of suprathermal electrons under the competition between Landau heating by whistler mode hiss waves and Coulomb collisional cooling by background plasma inside a plasmaspheric plume. We show that the Landau heating can prevail over the collisional cooling for >50 eV electrons and cause the field-aligned suprathermal electron fluxes to increase by up to 1 order of magnitude within 1.5 hr. Our results imply that the plasmaspheric plume hiss waves could mediate energy from the ring current electrons to the ionospheric plasma.

Wang, Zhongshan; Su, Zhenpeng; Liu, Nigang; Dai, Guyue; Zheng, Huinan; Wang, Yuming; Wang, Shui;

Published by: Geophysical Research Letters      Published on: 09/2020

YEAR: 2020     DOI: https://doi.org/10.1029/2020GL089649

magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling; whistler mode hiss waves; Landau resonance; Coulomb collisions; suprathermal electrons; ring current; Van Allen Probes

Sub-Auroral Polarization Stream (SAPS) duration as determined from Van Allen Probe successive electric drift measurements

We examine a characteristic feature of the magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling, namely, the persistent and latitudinally narrow bands of rapid westward ion drifts called the Sub-Auroral Polarization Streams (SAPS). Despite countless works on SAPS, information relative to their durations is lacking. Here, we report on the first statistical analysis of more than 200 near-equatorial SAPS observations based on more than two years of Van Allen Probe electric drift measurements. First, we present results relative to SAPS radial locations and amplitudes. Then, we introduce two different ways to estimate SAPS durations. In both cases, SAPS activity is estimated to last for about nine hours on average. However, our estimates for SAPS duration are limited either by the relatively long orbital periods of the spacecraft or by the relatively small number of observations involved. 50 \% of the events fit within the time interval [0;18] hours.

Lejosne, ène; Mozer, F.;

Published by: Geophysical Research Letters      Published on: 08/2017

YEAR: 2017     DOI: 10.1002/2017GL074985

duration; electric drift measurements; magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling; SAPS; Van Allen Probes

The Comprehensive Inner Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Model

Simulation studies of the Earth\textquoterights radiation belts and ring current are very useful in understanding the acceleration, transport, and loss of energetic particles. Recently, the Comprehensive Ring Current Model (CRCM) and the Radiation Belt Environment (RBE) model were merged to form a Comprehensive Inner Magnetosphere-Ionosphere (CIMI) model. CIMI solves for many essential quantities in the inner magnetosphere, including ion and electron distributions in the ring current and radiation belts, plasmaspheric density, Region 2 currents, convection potential, and precipitation in the ionosphere. It incorporates whistler mode chorus and hiss wave diffusion of energetic electrons in energy, pitch angle, and cross terms. CIMI thus represents a comprehensive model that considers the effects of the ring current and plasmasphere on the radiation belts. We have performed a CIMI simulation for the storm on 5\textendash9 April 2010 and then compared our results with data from the Two Wide-angle Imaging Neutral-atom Spectrometers and Akebono satellites. We identify the dominant energization and loss processes for the ring current and radiation belts. We find that the interactions with the whistler mode chorus waves are the main cause of the flux increase of MeV electrons during the recovery phase of this particular storm. When a self-consistent electric field from the CRCM is used, the enhancement of MeV electrons is higher than when an empirical convection model is applied. We also demonstrate how CIMI can be a powerful tool for analyzing and interpreting data from the new Van Allen Probes mission.

Fok, M.-C.; Buzulukova, N; Chen, S.-H.; Glocer, A.; Nagai, T.; Valek, P.; Perez, J.;

Published by: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics      Published on: 09/2014

YEAR: 2014     DOI: 10.1002/jgra.v119.910.1002/2014JA020239

inner magnetosphere; magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling; ring current; Radiation belts; Van Allen Probes