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Observations of the impenetrable barrier, the plasmapause, and the VLF bubble during the 17 March 2015 storm
Author(s) -
Foster J. C.,
Erickson P. J.,
Baker D. N.,
Jaynes A. N.,
Mishin E. V.,
Fennel J. F.,
Li X.,
Henderson M. G.,
Kanekal S. G.
Publication year - 2016
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1002/2016ja022509
Subject(s) - plasmasphere , physics , van allen probes , electron , van allen radiation belt , very low frequency , geophysics , bubble , geomagnetic storm , earth's magnetic field , substorm , computational physics , magnetosphere , magnetic field , mechanics , nuclear physics , astronomy , quantum mechanics
Van Allen Probes observations during the 17 March 2015 major geomagnetic storm strongly suggest that VLF transmitter‐induced waves play an important role in sculpting the earthward extent of outer zone MeV electrons. A magnetically confined bubble of very low frequency (VLF) wave emissions of terrestrial, human‐produced origin surrounds the Earth. The outer limit of the VLF bubble closely matches the position of an apparent barrier to the inward extent of multi‐MeV radiation belt electrons near 2.8 Earth radii. When the VLF transmitter signals extend beyond the eroded plasmapause, electron loss processes set up near the outer extent of the VLF bubble create an earthward limit to the region of local acceleration near L = 2.8 as MeV electrons are scattered into the atmospheric loss cone.