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Abstra t. Model simulations are ompared to the typi ally observed evo-
lution of MeV ele tron uxes during geomagneti storms to investigate whether
radial diusion alone an a ount for the observed variability and to esti-
times is ru ial for understanding the radial stru ture of the storm-time ra-
diation belts and their temporal evolution. Our model results suggest that
outer zone lifetimes at 1 MeV are on the order of few days during quite-times
and less than a day during storm-time onditions. Losses outside plasmas-
phere should be in luded in the modeling of ele tron uxes sin e ee tive
variable outer boundary onditions show that the depletion of the main phase
tions in uxes near geosyn hronous orbit and require lo al lifetimes as short
as 0.5 day. Radial diusion alone is unable to a ount for either gradual build
up of relativisti ele tron uxes or the maxima in phase spa e density near
L=4 5 observed during the re overy phase of many storms, whi h sug-
1. Introdu
tion
The Earth's energeti
ele
tron radiation belts have been studied for over four de
ades.
While the equilibrium stru ture of high energy ele tron uxes and formation of the slot
region have been a urately modeled under quiet onditions [Lyons and Thorne, 1973℄, the
dynami s of relativisti ele trons during geomagneti disturban es is still poorly under-
stood. Observed variability of ele trons is due to the ompeting ee ts of sour e and loss
pro esses. A quantitative treatment of all important pro esses is urrently unavailable,
but there is a general onsensus that both a eleration and loss o ur on times ales om-
parable to a day. The a eleration of ele trons is due to nonadiabati intera tions with
various plasma waves. Leading me hanisms for a eleration to relativisti energies in lude
radial diusion driven by ULF waves [e.g. Elkington et al., 2003℄ and lo al sto hasti a -
eleration by VLF waves [Horne and Thorne, 1998; Summers et al., 1998; Summers et al.,
2002℄. Observations indi ate that both of these pro esses operate in dierent regions of
the outer radiation zone [O'Brien et al., 2003℄. In the present study we sidestep the impor-
tant issue of the lo al sour e pro ess and fo us instead on how loses ae t the equatorial
energeti ele tron population inje ted from the outer boundary by stormtime enhan ed
radial diusion. The phase spa e density (PSD) f of energeti ele trons, whi h are sub-
je t to radial diusion and losses, an be modeled with the radial diusion equation [e.g.
formulation the rst two adiabati invariants and J are held onstant and variations in
the third invariant are treated through the L-shell parameter. By pres ribing PSD at the
In this study we adopt the empiri al results of Brautigam and Albert, [2000℄ for the rate
of radial diusion due to magneti u tuations, whi h tend to dominate over ele tostati
Sin e ele tron lifetimes are not as well determined as the rate of radial diusion, in the
present paper we examine the importan e of the lifetime by solving the time dependent
by the balan e between lo al a eleration, inward diusion and losses due to pit h-angle
s attering. The upper panels of Figure 1 exhibit the ee tive times ale for radial diusion
(1=D ) under quiet (Kp = 2) and magneti
ally disturbed (Kp = 6)
onditions using
LL
the empiri al magneti diusion oeÆ ient (2). The rate of radial diusion is strongly
enhan ed during storm onditions and most ee tive at higher L. It is instru tive to
ompare the times ale for radial diusion with expe ted loss times (1 10 days). At the
lo
ation (L ) where the two times
ales be
ome
omparable, we
an expe
t radial diusion
T
to be balan ed by losses. This lo ation demar ates the transition between two physi ally
distin
t regions in whi
h either diusion (L > L ) or losses (L < L ) dominate. The
T T
transition moves outward with de reasing lifetime and inward with in reasing geomagneti
a tivity.
The middle panels of Figure 1 show normalized equilibrium proles of PSD omputed
for a xed rst and se ond adiabati invariant obtained from a solution of the steady
state radial diusion equation with the parameters dis ussed above. The beginning of a
signi
ant drop in PSD lies approximately at the transition lo
ation L . The lower panels
T
the ux maxima for 1.0 MeV ele trons lie near L = 5:5 and L = 4:5 for rapid ( = 1 L
day) and moderate ( = 10 days) loss respe
tively. Sin
e the outer zone maximum is
L
typi ally observed near L = 5 under quiet onditions [e.g., Meredith et al., 2003b℄, an
outer zone quiet-time lifetime between 1-10 days would seem to be most appropriate.
Under storm onditions (Kp = 6) the outer zone peak should diuse into lower L, but
this would be partially oset by enhan ed storm time loss [O'Brien et al., 2004; Summers
Albert, 2000; Selesnik and Blake, 2000℄ to model relativisti ele tron variability during
a storm, but losses outside the plasmasphere were ignored. In this study we attempt to
in lude realisti loss rates throughout the entire magnetosphere. Satellite observations
indi ate that the average outer boundary ux is not dependent on the level of geomag-
neti a tivity [N. Meredith and P. O'Brien, personal ommuni ation℄. For simpli ity we
measured on CRRES (N. Meredith, personal omuni ation): J = 8222:6 exp( 7:068K )
in
m 2 st 1 keV 1
s 1
where K is kineti
energy in (MeV). As an initial
ondition we
adopt our steady-state results under quiet onditions (Kp = 2). To numeri ally solve the
radial diusion equation (1) we use a se ond order a ura y, un onditionally stable, semi-
impli
it diusion
ode. The loss rate is treated as a variable parameter. An idealized
L
storm main phase. The re overy phase of the storm is modeled by a linear variation of
Kp from 6 to 2 over 3 days. The diusion
oeÆ
ient is parameterized as a fun
tion of Kp
and L a
ording to (2). In the numeri
al experiments presented below we either adopt a
onstant lifetime or one dependent on Kp. Our solution are therefore only dependent on
days. Bold lines on the radial prole plots in Figure 2 represent steady state solutions
for Kp = 2 (solid line), whi h are used as an initial ondition for the time-dependent
simulations, and Kp = 6 (dashed line) for peak a tivity during the storm. It is lear that
equilibrium is never attained during the storm and that the dynami s of MeV ele tron
uxes during storms must be studied using a time dependent ode. In both simulations
uxes rise rapidly during the main phase of the storm, rea hing peak values near (L = 4)
very early in the storm re overy. The hoi e of the lifetime parameter has a major in uen e
on the evolution during the extended re overy. For rapid loss ( = 1) day, uxes start
to de ay early in the storm re overy (day 1.5), but for moderate losses ( = 10 days)
uxes remain roughly at the same level during all 3 days of the simulated storm re overy.
Following a typi al geomagneti storm, inje ted uxes de ay over a times ale of a few
days, whi h is indi ative of a realisti quiet time lifetime in the outer zone. However,
the intensity of VLF and EMIC waves apable of ausing pit h-angle s attering in the
outer zone is known to in rease with geomagneti a tivity [Tsurutani and Smith, 1977;
Meredith et al., 2003℄. Enhan ements in su h waves have been dire tly linked to in reased
mi roburst pre ipitation loss [Lorentzen et al., 2001℄ whi h is most pronoun ed during the
main phase of a storm [O'Brien et al., 2004℄. In our third model run (Figure 3) we attempt
to simulate this enhan ed outer zone loss by hanging the lifetime from 3 days under quiet
ondition (Kp = 2) to 1 day at the maximum of the storm (Kp = 6). In this simulation
we get a better representation of the de ay in the outer zone following a storm but are
unable to reprodu e the observed slow buildup in the re overy phase whi h hara terizes
ments with variable uxes at (L = 7) during the most a tive period of the storm. Statisti-
al averages indi ate little hange in the outer boundary ux with variable Kp. However,
there is eviden e for substantial ux depletion at geosyn hronous orbit during the storm
main phase, with a rapid return to normal onditions during the re overy phase of the
storm [Brautigam and Albert, 2000; Green, personal ommuni ations℄. Following the ap-
proa h used by Brautigam and Albert [2000℄, a variable outer boundary is introdu ed by
left). Extreme depletion of outer boundary uxes during the main phase of the storm (by
an order of magnitude at all energies), quantitatively hanges relativisti ele tron uxes
during the storm but does not hange our prin ipal on lusions on the ontrolling in uen e
of ele tron loss. Fast variations in the outer boundary produ e modest peaks in the phase
spa e density whi h disappear one day after the main phase of the storm. These results
are insensitive to amplitude and even sign of the hange of uxes during the main phase
of the storm. Thus variations in the outer boundary an not a ount for the observed
buildup in phase spa e density over several days during the re overy phase of the storm
Even strong variations in the outer boundary are unable to ause the observed depletion
of relativisti
ele
tron
uxes in the heart of the radiation belt (L 4) during the main
phase of the storm. This suggests that relativisti
ele
tron lifetime
ould be even shorter
than a day during the storm main phase. Figure 5 shows that in simulations with main
phase lifetimes of 0.1 day the radiation belts are emptied out, while in ase of lifetimes of
5. Dis
ussion
This study has attempted to quantify the
ompeting ee
ts of inward radial diusion
and losses on the distribution of outer zone ele trons during storm onditions. The rate
of radial diusion has been parameterized by the Kp with the loss time as an adjustable
parameter. MeV ele tron lifetimes of 1/2 day during the storm main phase and 3 days
under quiet onditions, are onsistent with urrent estimates of the storm time loss rate
[Albert, 2003; Summers and Thorne, 2003; O'Brien et al., 2003b℄ and also provide an
a eptable representation of ele tron de ay rates following the storm time inje tion.
However, the model solutions are not able to reprodu e the slow build up (over days) of
relativisti ele tron ux often observed during the re overy phase of a storm. They also
do not yield persistent peaks in phase spa e density in the region between L = 4 and 6
[Brautigam and Albert, 2000; Miyoshi et al.,[2003℄ or the build up of phase spa e density
found by Green and Kivelson, [2003℄. This suggests that an additional lo al a eleration
Re ent observational eviden e [Meredith et al, 2003b; Miyoshi et al., 2003℄ and theo-
reti al models [Summers et al., 1998; Horne et al., 2003℄ indi ate that ele trons ould be
a elerated to relativisti energies in the low density region exterior to the plasmapause
over times ales omparable to a day during resonant intera tions with enhan ed whistler-
modeling along with the opposing ee t of rapid loss, whi h an lead to a net depletion
A
knowledgments. This resear
h was funded by the Geos
ien
es Division of NASA
under Grant NAG5-11922. Authors would also like to thank Nigel Meredith and Paul
O'Brien for providing information on the average ele tron ux used as our boundary
Referen
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oeÆ
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Green, J.C., M.G. Kivelson, Relativisti ele trons in the outer radiation
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Summers, D., R. M. Thorne, F. Xiao Gyroresonant a eleration of ele trons in the mag-
Summers, D., C. Ma, N.P. Meredith, R.B. Horne, R.M. Thorne, D. Heyderi kx, and R.R.
Anderson, Model of the energization of outer zone ele trons by whistler-mode horus
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Tsurutani, B. T., and E. J. Smith, Two types of magnetospheri ELF horus and their
and stormtime (doted) onditions ompared to typi al ele tron lifetimes (dot dash). Equilibrium
proles of PSD (middle) and ele tron uxes at 1 MeV (bottom) for dierent rates of loss and
geomagneti a tivity.
Figure 2. Proles and
ontour plots of 1.0 MeV ele
tron
uxes for rapid ( = 1 day) and
L
moderate ( = 10 days) losses. Solid and dotted bold lines represent steady state proles
L
orresponding to Kp = 2 and Kp = 6 respe tively. Thin lines represent proles resulting from
the solution of the time dependent ode 1 day (dash-dotted line), 2 days (solid line), and 3 days
Figure 3. Proles and
ontour plots of 1.0 MeV ele
tron
uxes (top) and phase spa
e density
(
enter panels) for the depi
ted time dependent variations of the Kp index and lifetimes (bottom).
Figure 4. Proles and
ontour plots of 1.0 MeV ele
tron
uxes (top panels) and phase spa
e
densities (middle panels) for the depi
ted time dependent outer boundary
ondition and lifetimes
(bottom).
Figure 5. Ele
tron
uxes at 1.0 MeV using the same parameters as Figure 4 but for minimum
main phase lifetimes of 0.1 and 0.5 days.