Open AccessGrowth and decay of relativistic electrons during a magnetic storm as seen in low‐Earth orbit
Author(s) -
Pesnell W. Dean,
Goldberg Richard A.,
Chenette D. L.,
Gaines E. E.,
Schulz M.
Publication year - 2001
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.67
H-Index - 298
eISSN - 2156-2202
pISSN - 0148-0227
DOI - 10.1029/2000ja000221
Subject(s) - van allen radiation belt , physics , electron , geomagnetic storm , electron precipitation , storm , satellite , pitch angle , atomic physics , atmosphere (unit) , flux (metallurgy) , radiation , van allen probes , computational physics , atmospheric sciences , nuclear physics , magnetosphere , geophysics , plasma , solar wind , astronomy , meteorology , materials science , metallurgy
Highly relativistic electron events (HREs) are periods of intense, long‐lived, energetic electron fluxes in the outer radiation zone. We are using measurements from the High Energy Particle Spectrometer (HEPS) on the Upper Atmosphere Research Satellite (UARS) to develop a database of the pitch‐angle‐resolved and energy‐resolved electron fluxes with energies between 30 keV and 5 MeV. The data acquired by HEPS have overlapped with the declining phase of solar cycle 22, making these data very important, since HREs are thought to peak in frequency and intensity during this phase of the solar cycle. We find a consistent scenario of electrons being injected into the radiation belts by a magnetic storm (deduced from Dst ) and being slowly accelerated to ever higher energies over days to weeks. The energy dependence of the flux is an essential part of the analysis. Above 700 keV the most energetic electrons are the last to appear and the slowest to fade following an injection event.