Probing the Relationship Between Radiation Belt Electron Precipitation and Electromagnetic Ion Cyclotron (EMIC) Waves

Lauren W Blum1, John W Bonnell1, Dr. Alexa Jean Halford, PhD. 2, Robyn M Millan3, Jerry Goldstein4, Maria Usanova5, Mark J. Engebretson6, Mackenzie Ohnsted7, John R Wygant8 and Howard J Singer9, (1)University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, (2)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (3)Dartmouth College, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Hanover, NH, United States, (4)Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States, (5)University of Alberta, Edmonton, Canada, (6)Augsburg University, Physics, Minneapolis, United States, (7)Augsburg College, Minneapolis, MN, United States, (8)University of Minnesota Twin Cities, Minneapolis, MN, United States, (9)NOAA-Space Weather Prediction Center, Boulder, CO, United States

Contact First Author: Lauren W Blum; lauren.blum@lasp.colorado.edu

Previously Published Material: The preliminary findings of this study were shown in a poster at Fall AGU 2014.

Abstract ID#: 33997

 

English Abstract:
Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves have been hypothesized to be a primary source of precipitation loss of radiation belt electrons, contributing to the net response and dynamics of the outer radiation belt. Here we present simultaneous, conjugate measurements of EMIC wave activity, measured at GOES and on the ground, and energetic electron precipitation, seen by the 2013 BARREL balloon campaign, on two consecutive days in January 2013. The various overlapping, interacting plasma populations present are examined, as well as solar wind and geomagnetic conditions that contribute to the wave generation and wave-particle interactions. This study examines the temporal and spatial structure of EMIC waves and electron precipitation observed on Jan 18-19 2013 and provides direct evidence for this wave-particle interaction. This event is put in context through comparisons of global EMIC wave distributions to MeV electron precipitation events.
Back to: Recent Multipoint Observations and Interpretation of Relativistic Electron Dynamics in the Earth's Radiation Belts