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Global Survey of Plasma Sheet Electron Precipitation due to Whistler Mode Chorus Waves in Earth's Magnetosphere
Author(s) -
Ma Q.,
Connor H. K.,
Zhang X.J.,
Li W.,
Shen X.C.,
Gillespie D.,
Kletzing C. A.,
Kurth W. S.,
Hospodarsky G. B.,
Claudepierre S. G.,
Reeves G. D.,
Spence H. E.
Publication year - 2020
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 - 10.1029/2020gl088798
Subject(s) - chorus , magnetosphere , electron precipitation , plasma sheet , physics , van allen probes , geomagnetic storm , electron , geophysics , van allen radiation belt , whistler , earth's magnetic field , atmospheric sciences , pitch angle , equator , flux (metallurgy) , ionosphere , computational physics , plasma , magnetic field , latitude , astronomy , materials science , nuclear physics , art , literature , quantum mechanics , metallurgy
Whistler mode chorus waves can scatter plasma sheet electrons into the loss cone and produce the Earth's diffuse aurora. Van Allen Probes observed plasma sheet electron injections and intense chorus waves on 24 November 2012. We use quasilinear theory to calculate the precipitating electron fluxes, demonstrating that the chorus waves could lead to high differential energy fluxes of precipitating electrons with characteristic energies of 10–30 keV. Using this method, we calculate the precipitating electron flux from 2012 to 2019 when the Van Allen Probes were near the magnetic equator and perform global surveys of electron precipitation under different geomagnetic conditions. The most significant electron precipitation due to chorus is found from the nightside to dawn sectors over 4 < L < 6.5. The average total precipitating energy flux is enhanced during disturbed conditions, with time‐averaged values reaching ~3–10 erg/cm 2 /s when AE ≥ 500 nT.