SM41E-2519
Effects of Complex Interplanetary Structures on the Dynamics of the Earth’s Outer Radiation Belt During the 16-30 September 2014 Period: II) Corotating Solar Wind Stream
Thursday, 17 December 2015
Poster Hall (Moscone South)
Ligia Alves Da Silva1, David G Sibeck2, Livia Ribeiro Alves3, Vitor Moura Cardoso e Silva Souza4, Paulo Ricardo Jauer5, Marcos V Dias Silveira4, Claudia Medeiros4, Jose Marchezi4, Marlos Rockenbach4, Daniel N. Baker6, Craig Kletzing7, Shrikanth G Kanekal8, Marina Georgiou9, Odim Mendes Jr10, Alisson Dal Lago4 and Luis Eduardo A Vieira4, (1)Inst Nac Pesquisas Espaciais, Sao José dos Campos, Brazil, (2)NASA/GSFC, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)INPE National Institute for Space Research, Space Science Division, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, (4)INPE National Institute for Space Research, Sao Jose dos Campos, Brazil, (5)Inst Nac Pesquisas Espaciais, são josé dos campos - SP, Brazil, (6)University of Colorado at Boulder, Boulder, CO, United States, (7)University of Iowa, Iowa City, IA, United States, (8)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (9)National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Athens, Greece, (10)INPE National Institute for Space Research, Sao Jose Dos Campos, Brazil
Abstract:
We present a case study describing the dynamics of the outer radiation belt for two different solar wind conditions. First, we discuss a dropout of outer belt energetic electron fluxes corresponding to the arrival of an interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME) followed by a corotating stream in September 2014. Second, we discuss the reformation of the outer radiation belt that began on September 22nd. We find that the arrival of the ICME and the corotating interaction region that preceded the stream cause a long-duration (many day) dropout of high-energy electrons. The recovery in radiation belt fluxes only begins when the high-speed stream begins to develop IMF Bz fluctuations and auroral activity resumes. Furthermore, during periods in which several consecutive solar wind structures appear, the first structure primes the outer radiation belt prior to the interaction of the subsequent solar wind structures with the magnetosphere. Consequently, the evolution of the outer radiation belt through the solar cycle is significantly affected by the dominant structure of each phase of the cycle. We use energetic electron and magnetic field observations provided by the Van Allen Probes, THEMIS, and GOES missions.
