Article

Chorus acceleration of radiation belt relativistic electrons during March 2013 geomagnetic storm

Fuliang XiaoSchool of Physics and Electronic Sciences Changsha University of Science and Technology Changsha ChinaChang YangSchool of Physics and Electronic Sciences Changsha University of Science and Technology Changsha ChinaZhaoguo HeCenter for Space Science and Applied Research Chinese Academy of Sciences Beijing ChinaZhenpeng SuCAS Key Laboratory of Geospace Environment, Department of Geophysics and Planetary Sciences University of Science and Technology of China Hefei ChinaQinghua ZhouSchool of Physics and Electronic Sciences Changsha University of Science and Technology Changsha ChinaYihua HeSchool of Physics and Electronic Sciences Changsha University of Science and Technology Changsha ChinaC. A. KletzingDepartment of Physics and Astronomy University of Iowa Iowa City Iowa USAW. S. KŭrthDepartment of Physics and Astronomy University of Iowa Iowa City Iowa USAG. B. HospodarskyDepartment of Physics and Astronomy University of Iowa Iowa City Iowa USAH. E. SpenceInstitute for the Study of Earth, Oceans, and Space University of New Hampshire Durham New Hampshire USAG. D. ReevesSpace Science and Applications Group Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos New Mexico USAH. O. FunstenISR Division Los Alamos National Laboratory Los Alamos New Mexico USAJ. B. BlakeThe Aerospace Corporation Los Angeles California USAD. N. BakerLaboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics University of Colorado Boulder Colorado USAJ. R. WygantSchool of Physics and Astronomy University of Minnesota Minneapolis Minnesota USA

2014en

ABI

Abstract

Abstract The recent launching of Van Allen probes provides an unprecedent opportunity to investigate variations of the radiation belt relativistic electrons. During the 17–19 March 2013 storm, the Van Allen probes simultaneously detected strong chorus waves and substantial increases in fluxes of relativistic (2 − 4.5 MeV) electrons around L = 4.5. Chorus waves occurred within the lower band 0.1–0.5 f c e (the electron equatorial gyrofrequency), with a peak spectral density ∼10 −4 nT 2 /Hz. Correspondingly, relativistic electron fluxes increased by a factor of 10 2 –10 3 during the recovery phase compared to the main phase levels. By means of a Gaussian fit to the observed chorus spectra, the drift and bounce‐averaged diffusion coefficients are calculated and then used to solve a 2‐D Fokker‐Planck diffusion equation. Numerical simulations demonstrate that the lower‐band chorus waves indeed produce such huge enhancements in relativistic electron fluxes within 15 h, fitting well with the observation.

Identifiers

DOI: 10.1002/2014ja019822

Citations and references

Cited by 20 references

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