Reproducing the observed energy‐dependent structure of Earth's electron radiation belts during storm recovery with an event‐specific diffusion model
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- 作者：J.‐F. Ripoll ; G. D. Reeves ; G. S. Cunningham ; V. Loridan ; M. Denton ; O. Santolík ; W. S. Kurth ; C. A. Kletzing ; D. L. Turner ; M. G. Henderson ; et al
- 刊名：Geophysical Research Letters
- 出版年：2016
- 出版时间：16 June 2016
- 年：2016
- 卷：43
- 期：11
- 页码：5616-5625
- 全文大小：960.7KB
- ISSN：1944-8007
文摘
We present dynamic simulations of energy-dependent losses in the radiation belt “slot region” and the formation of the two-belt structure for the quiet days after the 1 March storm. The simulations combine radial diffusion with a realistic scattering model, based data-driven spatially and temporally resolved whistler-mode hiss wave observations from the Van Allen Probes satellites. The simulations reproduce Van Allen Probes observations for all energies and L shells (2–6) including (a) the strong energy dependence to the radiation belt dynamics (b) an energy-dependent outer boundary to the inner zone that extends to higher L shells at lower energies and (c) an “S-shaped” energy-dependent inner boundary to the outer zone that results from the competition between diffusive radial transport and losses. We find that the characteristic energy-dependent structure of the radiation belts and slot region is dynamic and can be formed gradually in ~15 days, although the “S shape” can also be reproduced by assuming equilibrium conditions. The highest-energy electrons (E > 300 keV) of the inner region of the outer belt (L ~ 4–5) also constantly decay, demonstrating that hiss wave scattering affects the outer belt during times of extended plasmasphere. Through these simulations, we explain the full structure in energy and L shell of the belts and the slot formation by hiss scattering during storm recovery. We show the power and complexity of looking dynamically at the effects over all energies and L shells and the need for using data-driven and event-specific conditions.