Statistical Distribution of Bifurcation of Earth's Inner Energetic Electron Belt at tens of keV

Author(s):  
Man Hua ◽  
Binbin Ni ◽  
Wen Li ◽  
Qianli Ma ◽  
Xudong Gu ◽  
...  

<p>The Earth’s inner energetic electron belt typically exhibits one-peak radial structure with high flux intensities at radial distances < ~2.5 Earth radii. Recent studies suggested that human-made very-low-frequency (VLF) transmitters leaked into the inner magnetosphere can efficiently scatter energetic electrons, bifurcating the inner electron belt. In this study, we use 6-year electron flux data from Van Allen Probes to comprehensively analyze the statistical distributions of the bifurcated inner electron belt and their dependence on electron energy, season, and geomagnetic activity, which is crucial to understand when and where VLF transmitters can efficiently scatter electrons in addition to other naturally occurring waves. We reveal that bifurcation can be frequently observed for tens of keV electrons under relatively quiet geomagnetic conditions, typically after significant flux enhancements that elevate fluxes at L = 2.0 – ~2.5 providing the prerequisite for the bifurcation. The bifurcation typically lasts for a few days until interrupted by substorm injections or inward radial diffusion. The L-shells of bifurcation dip decrease with increasing electron energy, and the occurrence of bifurcation is higher during northern hemisphere winter than summer, supporting the important role of VLF transmitter waves in energetic electron loss in near-Earth space.</p>

2019 ◽  
Vol 880 (2) ◽  
pp. 136 ◽  
Author(s):  
Natasha L. S. Jeffrey ◽  
Eduard P. Kontar ◽  
Lyndsay Fletcher

2021 ◽  
pp. 85-119
Author(s):  
Hannu E. J. Koskinen ◽  
Emilia K. J. Kilpua

AbstractUnderstanding the role of plasma waves, extending from magnetohydrodynamic (MHD) waves at ultra-low-frequency (ULF) oscillations in the millihertz range to very-low-frequency (VLF) whistler-mode emissions at frequencies of a few kHz, is necessary in studies of sources and losses of radiation belt particles. In order to make this theoretically heavy part of the book accessible to a reader, who is not familiar with wave–particle interactions, we have divided the treatise into three chapters. In the present chapter we introduce the most important wave modes that are critical to the dynamics of radiation belts. The drivers of these waves are discussed in Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-82167-8_5 and the roles of the wave modes as sources and losses of radiation belt particles are dealt with in Chap. 10.1007/978-3-030-82167-8_6.


2018 ◽  
Vol 36 (3) ◽  
pp. 781-791 ◽  
Author(s):  
Run Shi ◽  
Wen Li ◽  
Qianli Ma ◽  
Seth G. Claudepierre ◽  
Craig A. Kletzing ◽  
...  

Abstract. Plasmaspheric hiss was observed by Van Allen Probe B in association with energetic electron injections in the outer plasmasphere. The energy of injected electrons coincides with the minimum resonant energy calculated for the observed hiss wave frequency. Interestingly, the variations in hiss wave intensity, electron flux and ultra low frequency (ULF) wave intensity exhibit remarkable correlations, while plasma density is not correlated with any of these parameters. Our study provides direct evidence for the first time that the injected anisotropic electron population, which is modulated by ULF waves, modulates the hiss intensity in the outer plasmasphere. This also implies that the plasmaspheric hiss observed by Van Allen Probe B in the outer plasmasphere (L > ∼ 5.5) is locally amplified. Meanwhile, Van Allen Probe A observed hiss emission at lower L shells (< 5), which was not associated with electron injections but primarily modulated by the plasma density. The features observed by Van Allen Probe A suggest that the observed hiss deep inside the plasmasphere may have propagated from higher L shells.


2012 ◽  
Vol 69 (6) ◽  
pp. 1811-1823 ◽  
Author(s):  
David W. J. Thompson ◽  
Thomas Birner

Abstract Previous studies have demonstrated the key role of baroclinicity and thus the isentropic slope in determining the climatological-mean distribution of the tropospheric eddy fluxes of heat. Here the authors examine the role of variability in the isentropic slope in driving variations in the tropospheric eddy fluxes of heat about their long-term mean during Northern Hemisphere winter. On month-to-month time scales, the lower-tropospheric isentropic slope and eddy fluxes of heat are not significantly correlated when all eddies are included in the analysis. But the isentropic slope and heat fluxes are closely linked when the data are filtered to isolate the fluxes due to synoptic (&lt;10 days) and low-frequency (&gt;10 days) time scale waves. Anomalously steep isentropic slopes are characterized by anomalously poleward heat fluxes by synoptic eddies but anomalously equatorward heat fluxes by low-frequency eddies. Lag regressions based on daily data reveal that 1) variations in the isentropic slope precede by several days variations in the heat fluxes by synoptic eddies and 2) variations in the heat fluxes due to both synoptic and low-frequency eddies precede by several days similarly signed variations in the momentum flux at the tropopause level. The results suggest that seemingly modest changes in the tropospheric isentropic slope drive significant changes in the synoptic eddy heat fluxes and thus in the generation of baroclinic wave activity in the lower troposphere. The linkages have implications for understanding the extratropical tropospheric eddy response to a range of processes, including anthropogenic climate change, stratospheric variability, and extratropical sea surface temperature anomalies.


2020 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Man Hua ◽  
Wen Li ◽  
Binbin Ni ◽  
Qianli Ma ◽  
Alex Green ◽  
...  

Abstract Very-Low-Frequency (VLF) transmitters operate worldwide mostly at frequencies of 10–30 kilohertz for submarine communications. While it has been of intense scientific interest and practical importance to understand whether VLF transmitters can affect the natural environment of charged energetic particles, for decades there remained little direct observational evidence that revealed the effects of these VLF transmitters in geospace. Here we report a radially bifurcated electron belt formation at energies of tens of kiloelectron volts (keV) at altitudes of ~0.8–1.5 Earth radii on timescales over 10 days. Using Fokker-Planck diffusion simulations, we provide quantitative evidence that VLF transmitter emissions that leak from the Earth-ionosphere waveguide are primarily responsible for bifurcating the energetic electron belt, which typically exhibits a single-peak radial structure in near-Earth space. Since energetic electrons pose a potential danger to satellite operations, our findings demonstrate the feasibility of mitigation of natural particle radiation environment.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Zhu ◽  
Lunjin Chen

&lt;p&gt;In this study, we use the Van Allen Probes data statistically to investigate the features of magnetic dips by the means of superposed epoch analysis. Based on the different max values of electron and proton plasma betas, we categorize the dips into two types: electron-driven dips and proton-driven dips. Superposed epoch analysis on two types of magnetic dips suggests the correlation between the magnetic fluctuations and plasma betas. Moreover, the occurrence of the butterfly distributions of relativistic electrons driven by the magnetic dips is confirmed by the statistical results. Our results reveal the statistical characteristics of magnetic dips and build up the relationship among the magnetic fluctuations and several parameters, indicating the potentially important role of magnetic dips in the dynamics of the inner magnetosphere.&lt;/p&gt;


Author(s):  
I. Jonathan Rae ◽  
Kyle R. Murphy ◽  
Clare E. J. Watt ◽  
Alexa J. Halford ◽  
Ian R. Mann ◽  
...  

Author(s):  
David R. Veblen

Extended defects and interfaces control many processes in rock-forming minerals, from chemical reactions to rock deformation. In many cases, it is not the average structure of a defect or interface that is most important, but rather the structure of defect terminations or offsets in an interface. One of the major thrusts of high-resolution electron microscopy in the earth sciences has been to identify the role of defect fine structures in reactions and to determine the structures of such features. This paper will review studies using HREM and image simulations to determine the structures of defects in silicate and oxide minerals and present several examples of the role of defects in mineral chemical reactions. In some cases, the geological occurrence can be used to constrain the diffusional properties of defects.The simplest reactions in minerals involve exsolution (precipitation) of one mineral from another with a similar crystal structure, and pyroxenes (single-chain silicates) provide a good example. Although conventional TEM studies have led to a basic understanding of this sort of phase separation in pyroxenes via spinodal decomposition or nucleation and growth, HREM has provided a much more detailed appreciation of the processes involved.


2019 ◽  
Vol 85 (1(I)) ◽  
pp. 64-71 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. M. Gadenin

The cycle configuration at two-frequency loading regimes depends on the number of parameters including the absolute values of the frequencies and amplitudes of the low-frequency and high-frequency loads added during this mode, the ratio of their frequencies and amplitudes, as well as the phase shift between these harmonic components, the latter having a significant effect only with a small ratio of frequencies. Presence of such two-frequency regimes or service loading conditions for parts of machines and structures schematized by them can significantly reduce their endurance. Using the results of experimental studies of changes in the endurance of a two-frequency loading of specimens of cyclically stable, cyclically softened and cyclically hardened steels under rigid conditions we have shown that decrease in the endurance under the aforementioned conditions depends on the ratio of frequencies and amplitudes of operation low-frequency low-cycle and high-frequency vibration stresses, and, moreover, the higher the level of the ratios of amplitudes and frequencies of those stacked harmonic processes of loading the greater the effect. It is shown that estimation of such a decrease in the endurance compared to a single frequency loading equal in the total stress (strains) amplitudes can be carried out using an exponential expression coupling those endurances through a parameter (reduction factor) containing the ratio of frequencies and amplitudes of operation cyclic loads and characteristic of the material. The reduction is illustrated by a set of calculation-experimental curves on the corresponding diagrams for each of the considered types of materials and compared with the experimental data.


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