Abstract
Global MHD test particle simulations of >10 MeV radiation belt electrons during storm sudden commencement
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Department of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire, USA
Space Sciences Department, Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, California, USA
Space Vehicles Directorate, Air Force Research Laboratory, Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, USA
Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Center for Integrated Space Weather Modeling, Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts, USA
Prior to 2003, there are two known cases where ultrarelativistic (
10 MeV) electrons appeared in the Earth's inner zone radiation belts in association with high speed interplanetary shocks:
the 24 March 1991 and the less well studied 21 February 1994 storms. During the March 1991 event electrons were injected well
into the inner zone on a timescale of minutes, producing a new stably trapped radiation belt population that persisted for
∼10 years. More recently, at the end of solar cycle 23, a number of violent geomagnetic disturbances resulted in large variations
in ultrarelativistic electrons in the inner zone, indicating that these events are less rare than previously thought. Here
we present results from a numerical study of shock-induced transport and energization of outer zone electrons in the 1–7 MeV
range, resulting in a newly formed 10–20 MeV electron belt near L ∼ 3. Test particle trajectories are followed in time-dependent fields from an MHD magnetospheric model simulation of the
29 October 2003 storm sudden commencement (SSC) driven by solar wind parameters measured at ACE. The newly formed belt is
predominantly equatorially mirroring. This result is in part due to an SSC electric field pulse that is strongly peaked in
the equatorial plane, preferentially accelerating equatorially mirroring particles. The timescale for subsequent pitch angle
diffusion of the new belt, calculated using quasi-linear bounce-averaged diffusion coefficients, is in agreement with the
observed delay in the appearance of peak fluxes at SAMPEX in low Earth orbit. We also present techniques for modeling radiation
belt dynamics using test particle trajectories in MHD fields. Simulations are performed using code developed by the Center
for Integrated Space Weather Modeling.
Received 8 December 2006; accepted 7 June 2007; published 22 September 2007.
Citation: (2007), Global MHD test particle simulations of >10 MeV radiation belt electrons during storm sudden commencement, J. Geophys. Res., 112, A09215, doi:10.1029/2006JA012218.
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