Energy Dependent Responses of Relativistic Electron Fluxes in the Outer Radiation Belt to Geomagnetic Storms

Abstract:

Geomagnetic storms can either increase 4 or decrease relativistic electron fluxes in the outer radiation belt. A statistical survey of 84 isolated storms demonstrates that geomagnetic storms preferentially decrease relativistic electron fluxes at higher energies while flux enhancements are more common at lower energies. In about 87% of the storms, 0.3-2.5 MeV electrons fluxes show increase, whereas 2.5-14 MeV electron fluxes increase in only 35% of the storms. Superposed epoch analyses suggest that such ’energy dependent’ behavior of electrons preferably occurs during conditions of high solar wind density which is favorable to generate magnetospheric electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves and these ’energy dependent’ events are associated with relatively weaker chorus activities. We have examined one of the cases where observed EMIC waves can resonate effectively with >2.5 MeV electrons and scatter them into the atmosphere. The correlation study further illustrates that electron flux drop-outs during storm main phases do not correlate well with the flux build-up during storm recovery phases. We suggest that a combination of efficient EMIC-induced scattering and weaker chorus-driven acceleration provide a viable candidate for the energy dependent responses of outer radiation belt relativistic electrons to geomagnetic storms. These results are of great interest to both understanding of the radiation belt dynamics and applications in space weather.