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Recent analysis of energetic electron measurements from the Magnetic Electron Ion Spectrometer instruments onboard the Van Allen Probes showed a local time variation of the equatorial electron intensity in the Earth’s inner radiation belt. The local time asymmetry was interpreted as evidence of drift shell distortion by a large-scale electric field. It was also demonstrated that the inclusion of a simple dawn-to-dusk electric field model improved the agreement between observations and theoretical expectations. Yet, exactly what drives this electric field was left unexplained. We combine in-situ field and particle observations, together with a physics-based coupled model, the Rice Convection Model (RCM) Coupled Thermosphere-Ionosphere-Plasmasphere-electrodynamics (CTIPe), to revisit the local time asymmetry of the equatorial electron intensity observed in the innermost radiation belt. The study is based on the dawn-dusk difference in equatorial electron intensity measured at L = 1.30 during the first 60 days of the year 2014. Analysis of measured equatorial electron intensity in the 150–400 keV energy range, in-situ DC electric field measurements and wind dynamo modeling outputs provide consistent estimates of the order of 6–8 kV for the average dawn-to-dusk electric potential variation. This suggests that the dynamo electric fields produced by tidal motion of upper atmospheric winds flowing across Earth’s magnetic field lines - the quiet time ionospheric wind dynamo - are the main drivers of the drift shell distortion in the Earth’s inner radiation belt.
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On the Local Structure of Stochastic Parker Spirals in the Solar Wind
Abstract We present a Langevin model describing the local structure of the interplanetary magnetic field lines. It is established on the basis of the analysis of the Lagrangian properties of strong Alfvénic turbulence, which provides a new perspective on the critical balance condition. The model is consistent with the k ∥ − 2 spectrum of magnetic fluctuations derived from in situ measurements. We show that the magnetic field line diffusivity at the spacecraft position can be inferred from the wavelet analysis of one-point measurements of the fluctuating magnetic fields in the solar wind independently of the three-dimensional nature of the anisotropy.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2149771
- PAR ID:
- 10395443
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- The Astrophysical Journal
- Volume:
- 941
- Issue:
- 1
- ISSN:
- 0004-637X
- Page Range / eLocation ID:
- 58
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript1.0
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.3847/1538-4357/aca279
