Space Weather Effects in the Earth’s Radiation Belts

D Baker; P Erickson; J Fennell; J Foster; A Jaynes; P Verronen

doi:10.1007/s11214-017-0452-7

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Space Weather Effects in the Earth’s Radiation Belts

Journal article

Open access

Peer reviewed

Space Weather Effects in the Earth’s Radiation Belts

D Baker, P Erickson, J Fennell, J Foster, A Jaynes and P Verronen

Space science reviews, Vol.214(1), pp.1-60

02/2018

DOI: 10.1007/s11214-017-0452-7

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Published (Version of record) Open Access

Abstract

The first major scientific discovery of the Space Age was that the Earth is enshrouded in toroids, or belts, of very high-energy magnetically trapped charged particles. Early observations of the radiation environment clearly indicated that the Van Allen belts could be delineated into an inner zone dominated by high-energy protons and an outer zone dominated by high-energy electrons. The energy distribution, spatial extent and particle species makeup of the Van Allen belts has been subsequently explored by several space missions. Recent observations by the NASA dual-spacecraft Van Allen Probes mission have revealed many novel properties of the radiation belts, especially for electrons at highly relativistic and ultra-relativistic kinetic energies. In this review we summarize the space weather impacts of the radiation belts. We demonstrate that many remarkable features of energetic particle changes are driven by strong solar and solar wind forcings. Recent comprehensive data show broadly and in many ways how high energy particles are accelerated, transported, and lost in the magnetosphere due to interplanetary shock wave interactions, coronal mass ejection impacts, and high-speed solar wind streams. We also discuss how radiation belt particles are intimately tied to other parts of the geospace system through atmosphere, ionosphere, and plasmasphere coupling. The new data have in many ways rewritten the textbooks about the radiation belts as a key space weather threat to human technological systems.

Physics

Planetology

Aerospace Technology and Astronautics

Astrophysics and Astroparticles

Magnetospheric dynamics

Particle acceleration

Radiation belts

Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics, Space Exploration and Astronautics)

Space weather

Spacecraft anomalies

Wave–particle interactions

Details

Title: Subtitle: Space Weather Effects in the Earth’s Radiation Belts
Creators: D Baker - University of Colorado Boulder
P Erickson - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
J Fennell - Space Sciences Laboratory
J Foster - Massachusetts Institute of Technology
A Jaynes - University of Colorado Boulder
P Verronen - Finnish Meteorological Institute
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Space science reviews, Vol.214(1), pp.1-60
DOI: 10.1007/s11214-017-0452-7
ISSN: 0038-6308
eISSN: 1572-9672
Publisher: Springer Netherlands
Grant note: NNN06AAOIC / NASA
Language: English
Date published: 02/2018
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy; University College Courses
Record Identifier: 9984199955102771

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168 Times Cited - Web of Science