Although most studies of the effects of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves on Earth's outer radiation belt have focused on events in the afternoon sector in the outer plasmasphere or plume region, strong magnetospheric compressions provide an additional stimulus for EMIC wave generation across a large range of local times and L shells. We present here observations of the effects of a wave event on 23 February 2014 that extended over 8 h in UT and over 12 h in local time, stimulated by a gradual 4 h rise and subsequent sharp increases in solar wind pressure. Large‐amplitude linearly polarized hydrogen band EMIC waves (up to 25 nT p‐p) appeared for over 4 h at both Van Allen Probes, from late morning through local noon, when these spacecraft were outside the plasmapause, with densities ~5–20 cm−3. Waves were also observed by ground‐based induction magnetometers in Antarctica (near dawn), Finland (near local noon), Russia (in the afternoon), and in Canada (from dusk to midnight). Ten passes of NOAA‐POES and METOP satellites near the northern foot point of the Van Allen Probes observed 30–80 keV subauroral proton precipitation, often over extended L shell ranges; other passes identified a narrow L shell region of precipitation over Canada. Observations of relativistic electrons by the Van Allen Probes showed that the fluxes of more field‐aligned and more energetic radiation belt electrons were reduced in response to both the emission over Canada and the more spatially extended emission associated with the compression, confirming the effectiveness of EMIC‐induced loss processes for this event.
[1] The global distribution and spectral properties of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves in the He + band are simulated for the 21 April 2001 storm using a combination of three different codes: the Rice Convection Model, the Ring current-Atmospheric interactions Model, and the HOTRAY ray tracing code (incorporated with growth rate solver). During the storm main phase, injected ions exhibit a non-Maxwellian distribution with pronounced phase space density minima at energies around a few keV. Ring current H + injected from the plasma sheet provides the source of free energy for EMIC excitation during the storm. Significant wave gain is confined to a limited spatial region inside the storm time plume and maximizes at the eastward edge of the plume in the dusk and premidnight sector. The excited waves are also able to resonate and scatter relativistic electrons, but the minimum electron resonant energy is generally above 3 MeV.
From a survey of the first nightside season of NASA's Van Allen Probes mission (December 2012 to September 2013), 47 energetic (tens to hundreds of keV) electron injection events were found at L shells ≤ 4, all of which are deeper than any previously reported substorm‐related injections. Preliminary details from these events are presented, including how all occurred shortly after dipolarization signatures and injections were observed at higher L shells, how the deepest observed injection was at L ~ 2.5, and, surprisingly, how L ≤ 4 injections are limited in energy to ≤250 keV. We present a detailed case study of one example event revealing that the injection of electrons down to L ~ 3.5 was different from injections observed at higher L and likely resulted from electrons interacting with a fast magnetosonic wave in the Pi2 frequency range inside the plasmasphere. These observations demonstrate that injections occur at very low L shells and may play an important role for inner zone electrons.
[1] We have used THEMIS measurements to determine how the ion and electron temperatures and their ratio (T i /T e ) change spatially in the magnetosheath and plasma sheet and to identify the processes responsible for the variations. Magnetosheath T i /T e varies from $4-12 with higher ratios observed during larger solar wind speed and at locations closer to the magnetopause. T i /T e remains almost unchanged as particles flow downstream and cool adiabatically. Across the flank magnetopause from the magnetosheath to a plasma sheet that is cool with abundant cold plasma, temperature and specific entropy for ions and electrons increase significantly while T i /T e remains similar, indicating that the magnetosheath ions and electrons are non-adiabatically energized with similar proportion while entering the magnetosphere. Within the tail plasma sheet, T i /T e varies from $6 to 10 when plasma is relatively cool to $2 to 5 when relatively warm. With this correlation, T i /T e is higher closer to the flanks and during northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF), while lower T i /T e is more often seen during higher AE around midnight. The distinguishably lower T i /T e for warmer plasma in the near-Earth plasma sheet is likely due to additional non-adiabatic heating of electrons more than ions as particles move earthward and are adiabatically energized. As particles move into the near-Earth magnetosphere, strengthening magnetic drift brings more hotter ions toward dusk and more hotter electrons toward dawn, resulting in a strong T i /T e dawn-dusk asymmetry with very high T i /T e ($15 to 100) near dusk and very low T i /T e ($1) near dawn.Citation: Wang, C.-P., M. Gkioulidou, L. R. Lyons, and V. Angelopoulos (2012), Spatial distributions of the ion to electron temperature ratio in the magnetosheath and plasma sheet,
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.
customersupport@researchsolutions.com
10624 S. Eastern Ave., Ste. A-614
Henderson, NV 89052, USA
This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.
Copyright © 2024 scite LLC. All rights reserved.
Made with 💙 for researchers
Part of the Research Solutions Family.