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Parametric Sensitivity of the Formation of Reversed Electron Energy Spectrum Caused by Plasmaspheric Hiss
Author(s) -
Ni Binbin,
Huang He,
Zhang Wenxun,
Gu Xudong,
Zhao Hong,
Li Xinlin,
Baker Daniel,
Fu Song,
Xiang Zheng,
Cao Xing
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2019gl082032
Subject(s) - hiss , plasmasphere , physics , van allen radiation belt , electron , computational physics , van allen probes , atomic physics , lower hybrid oscillation , magnetosphere , plasma , nuclear physics , electromagnetic electron wave
Scattering by plasmaspheric hiss is responsible for the newly reported reversed energy spectra with abundant high‐energy but fewer low‐energy electrons between hundreds of kiloelectronvolts and ~2 MeV in the inner magnetosphere. To deepen our understanding of the contributions of plasmaspheric hiss to the formation of reversed electron energy spectrum, we conduct a detailed theoretical parametric analysis through numerical simulations to explore the sensitivity of hiss‐induced reversed electron energy spectrum to ambient magnetic field, plasma density, and hiss wave distribution properties. Given L‐shell, variations of ambient plasma density and wave frequency spectrum contribute importantly to the formation of reversed electron energy spectrum, while variations of background magnetic field (which usually shows small changes in the plasmasphere) and wave normal angle distribution play a less effective role. Our study suggests that the reversed electron energy spectrum has important implications for unveiling the sophisticated energy‐dependent nature of wave‐particle interactions and energetic particle dynamics in geospace.