Ultrarelativistic electron butterfly distributions created by parallel acceleration due to magnetosonic waves

Jinxing Li; Jacob Bortnik; Richard M Thorne; Wen Li; Qianli Ma; Daniel N Baker; Geoffrey D Reeves; Joseph F Fennell; Harlan E Spence; Craig A Kletzing; William S Kurth; George B Hospodarsky; Vassilis Angelopoulos; J. Bernard Blake

doi:10.1002/2016JA022370

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Ultrarelativistic electron butterfly distributions created by parallel acceleration due to magnetosonic waves

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Ultrarelativistic electron butterfly distributions created by parallel acceleration due to magnetosonic waves

Jinxing Li, Jacob Bortnik, Richard M Thorne, Wen Li, Qianli Ma, Daniel N Baker, Geoffrey D Reeves, Joseph F Fennell, Harlan E Spence, Craig A Kletzing, …

Journal of geophysical research. Space physics, Vol.121(4), pp.3212-3222

04/2016

DOI: 10.1002/2016JA022370

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Abstract

The Van Allen Probe observations during the recovery phase of a large storm that occurred on 17 March 2015 showed that the ultrarelativistic electrons at the inner boundary of the outer radiation belt (L∗ = 2.6-3.7) exhibited butterfly pitch angle distributions, while the inner belt and the slot region also showed evidence of sub-MeV electron butterfly distributions. Strong magnetosonic waves were observed in the same regions and at the same time periods as these butterfly distributions. Moreover, when these magnetosonic waves extended to higher altitudes (L∗ = 4.1), the butterfly distributions also extended to the same region. Combining test particle calculations and Fokker-Planck diffusion simulations, we successfully reproduced the formation of the ultrarelativistic electron butterfly distributions, which primarily result from parallel acceleration caused by Landau resonance with magnetosonic waves. The coexistence of ultrarelativistic electron butterfly distributions with magnetosonic waves was also observed in the 24 June 2015 storm, providing further support that the magnetosonic waves play a key role in forming butterfly distributions.

Details

Title: Subtitle: Ultrarelativistic electron butterfly distributions created by parallel acceleration due to magnetosonic waves
Creators: Jinxing Li - University of California, Los Angeles
Jacob Bortnik - University of California, Los Angeles
Richard M Thorne - University of California, Los Angeles
Wen Li - University of California, Los Angeles
Qianli Ma - University of California, Los Angeles
Daniel N Baker - University of Colorado Boulder
Geoffrey D Reeves - Los Alamos National Laboratory
Joseph F Fennell - The Aerospace Corporation
Harlan E Spence - University of New Hampshire
Craig A Kletzing - University of Iowa
William S Kurth - University of Iowa
George B Hospodarsky - University of Iowa
Vassilis Angelopoulos - University of California, Los Angeles
J. Bernard Blake - The Aerospace Corporation
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Journal of geophysical research. Space physics, Vol.121(4), pp.3212-3222
DOI: 10.1002/2016JA022370
ISSN: 2169-9380
eISSN: 2169-9402
Grant note: name: NSF Geospace Environment Modeling, award: AGS-1103064; DOI: 10.13039/100000104, name: NASA, award: NNX13AI61G, NNX11AR64G, NNX15AF61G, NNX15AI96G; DOI: 10.13039/100000181, name: AFOSR, award: FA9550-15-1-0158
Language: English
Date published: 04/2016
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984199830402771

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