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Duration of Individual Relativistic Electron Microbursts: A Probe Into Their Scattering Mechanism
Author(s) -
Shumko M.,
Blum L. W.,
Crew A. B.
Publication year - 2021
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 - 10.1029/2021gl093879
Subject(s) - microburst , noon , physics , van allen radiation belt , duration (music) , astrophysics , electron , earth's magnetic field , electron precipitation , atmospheric sciences , range (aeronautics) , whistler , magnetosphere , meteorology , nuclear physics , magnetic field , plasma , wind speed , materials science , wind shear , quantum mechanics , acoustics , composite material
We used the Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer to identify and quantify the duration of relativistic, > 1 MeV, electron microbursts. A typical relativistic microburst has a ≈ 100 millisecond (ms) duration, and the interquartile range of the duration distribution is 70–140 ms. We investigated trends in the microburst duration as a function of geomagnetic activity, L‐shell, and magnetic local time (MLT). The clearest trend is in MLT: the median microburst duration doubles from 75 milliseconds at midnight to 140 milliseconds noon MLT. This trend is similar to the whistler mode chorus rising tone element duration trend, suggesting a possible relationship.