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Global Survey of Electron Precipitation due to Hiss Waves in the Earth’s Plasmasphere and Plumes
Author(s) -
Ma Q.,
Li W.,
Zhang X. J.,
Bortnik J.,
Shen X. C.,
Connor H. K.,
Boyd A. J.,
Kurth W. S.,
Hospodarsky G. B.,
Claudepierre S. G.,
Reeves G. D.,
Spence H. E.
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of geophysical research: space physics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2169-9402
pISSN - 2169-9380
DOI - 10.1029/2021ja029644
Subject(s) - hiss , plasmasphere , electron precipitation , physics , van allen radiation belt , magnetosphere , flux (metallurgy) , electron , atmospheric sciences , van allen probes , geophysics , earth's magnetic field , precipitation , diffusion , plume , astrophysics , meteorology , plasma , magnetic field , nuclear physics , chemistry , quantum mechanics , thermodynamics , organic chemistry
We present a global survey of energetic electron precipitation from the equatorial magnetosphere due to hiss waves in the plasmasphere and plumes. Using Van Allen Probes measurements, we calculate the pitch angle diffusion coefficients at the bounce loss cone, and evaluate the energy spectrum of precipitating electron flux. Our ∼6.5‐year survey shows that, during disturbed times, hiss inside the plasmasphere primarily causes the electron precipitation at L > 4 over 8 h < MLT < 18 h, and hiss waves in plumes cause the precipitation at L > 5 over 8 h < MLT < 14 h and L > 4 over 14 h < MLT < 20 h. The precipitating energy flux increases with increasing geomagnetic activity, and is typically higher in the plasmaspheric plume than the plasmasphere. The characteristic energy of precipitation increases from ∼20 keV at L = 6–∼100 keV at L = 3, potentially causing the loss of electrons at several hundred keV.