SM33B-01:
EMIC Waves in the Radiation Belts
Wednesday, 17 December 2014: 1:40 PM
Maria Usanova, Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, Boulder, CO, United States, Ian Robert Mann, University of Alberta, Edmonton, AB, Canada, Alexander Drozdov, University of California Los Angeles, EPSS, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Ksenia Orlova, University of California Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, United States, Yuri Shprits, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, United States, Fabien Darrouzet, Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy, Brussels, Belgium and Robert Ergun, Univ Colorado, Boulder, CO, United States
Abstract:
Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves are believed to be important for influencing the dynamics of energetic particles in the inner magnetosphere - both ring current ions and radiation belt electrons - causing particle precipitation into the atmosphere. EMIC waves are generated from unstable ion distributions as a result of ion temperature anisotropy, with the ion dynamics being modified self-consistently by the growth of the EMIC instability. EMIC waves are also thought to influence higher energy electrons in the Van Allen belts through a Doppler shifted cyclotron resonance, including changes in electron pitch-angle distributions and electron scattering loss into the atmosphere. We will present some of the latest results addressing EMIC wave distribution, solar wind and magnetospheric conditions favorable for their generation and their role in energetic particle loss in the inner magnetosphere. We will focus on results from recent satellite missions including THEMIS and Cluster, as well as some of the latest results from the Van Allen Probes. We will also highlight the value of data from networks of modern ground-based magnetometers in providing continuous monitoring over global scales, especially in conjunction with in-situ measurements from satellites. Such coordinated ground-satellite conjunction studies represent a powerful tool for understanding the self-consistent and cross-energy coupling in the inner magnetosphere between ring current ions and radiation belt electrons via the intermediary of EMIC waves.
