Van Allen Probes observations of radiation belt response to interplanetary shocks and co-rotating interaction region during September 2017

Kanekal, Shrikanth

Van Allen Probes observations of radiation belt response to interplanetary shocks and co-rotating interaction region during September 2017

Monday, 5 March 2018: 16:05

Longshot and Bogey (Hotel Quinta da Marinha)

Shrikanth G Kanekal¹, Daniel N Baker², Ashley Diemer Jones Greeley³, Quintin Schiller⁴, David G Sibeck⁴, Allison N Jaynes⁵, Xinlin Li⁶ and J. F. Fennell⁷, (1)Heliophysics Laboratory, NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (2)LASP, University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (3)Catholic University of America, physics, Washington, DC, United States, (4)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (5)University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States, (6)Univ Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States, (7)Aerospace Corporation Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States

Abstract:

Solar activity during the month of September 2017 was exceptional with two interplanetary shocks (IP) on two consecutive days, followed by a co-rotating interaction region (CIR) about a week later. These events elicited responses from the terrestrial radiation belts, particularly by electron fluxes in the outer belt. Electron populations showed both rapid injection and a gradual longer lasting and energization on time scales of minutes and days. We study these events using data from the Relativistic Electron and Proton Telescope (REPT) and the Magnetic Electron and Ion Sensors (MagEIS) onboard the twin Van Allen Probes. These instruments together cover a wide energy range from keV to multi-MeV and provide detailed pitch angle as well as spectral information. We will examine both spectral and pitch angle changes induced by the rapid shock injections and obtain the location of the shock impact on the magnetosphere. Using data from ACE and Wind we examine the shock properties and their relationship to spectral and pitch angle properties of the injected electrons. We will compare these to the more gradual response of the outer belt to the CIR.