Abstract In this paper we present a review of what we know about the evolution and energization of energetic electrons in the inner magnetosphere. We emphasize what we have learned since the review by Friedel et al. [17] that discussed in detail the possible acceleration mechanisms for these electrons. The primary result has been a greater focus on local acceleration processes with significant new evidence that points to processes that are acting in the region between GPS and geosynchronous altitudes. In addition to reviewing the most recent results we also use as an example the magnetosphere’s energetic electron responses to a series of storms that occurred in the July 16–25, 2004 period. The storms had gradually increasing magnitude, in terms of their minimum DST of − 80, − 101, − 148, and − 197 nT. We followed the penetration and enhancements of the electrons as a function of L value using the HEO3 observations. We found that the two smallest storms did not cause relativistic electron enhancements for L < 6. 5 but did cause enhancements in the electron “source” populations at > 130 and > 230 keV down to L ∼3. 0. The two largest events cause electron enhancements at all energies from > 130 keV to > 3 MeV down to L ∼2. 5. We found that the Cluster IES observations of the source populations in the pre midnight plasma sheet were quite intense with strong field aligned distributions during the early main phase of the storm on July 24. The combined results indicate that these early main phase electron fluxes at Cluster may be directly linked to the rapid response of electrons at low L observed by HEO3 and could have been the source for the < 1 MeV fluxes observed there.
Evolution and Energization of Energetic Electrons in the Inner Magnetosphere
2009-10-30
23 pages
Article/Chapter (Book)
Electronic Resource
English
Evolution and Energization of Energetic Electrons in the Inner Magnetosphere
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