Evidence of sub‐MeV EMIC‐driven trapped electron flux dropouts from GPS observations

Hendry, A.T.; Rodger, C.J.; Clilverd, M.A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7388-1529; Morley, S.K.. 2021 Evidence of sub‐MeV EMIC‐driven trapped electron flux dropouts from GPS observations. Geophysical Research Letters, 48 (9), e2021GL092664. 11, pp. 10.1029/2021GL092664

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Abstract/Summary

For many years, it was believed that resonant interactions between electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves and radiation belt electrons were restricted to electron energies > 1 − 2 MeV. In recent years, however, a growing body of experimental evidence has shown that EMIC waves can cause the scattering loss of electrons down to sub‐MeV energies. Using measurements of trapped electron flux from the GPS satellite constellation, we investigate the ability of EMIC waves to cause significant depletions of radiation belt electron populations between 4 ≤ L* ≤ 5. For the first time, we present statistical evidence demonstrating global decreases in sub‐MeV trapped electron flux in response to EMIC wave activity. Although we find that electron losses extend down to sub‐MeV energies, we also show strong statistical support for the ability of EMIC waves to preferentially cause substantial depletions of ultra‐relativistic electrons in the radiation belts.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1029/2021GL092664
ISSN:	0094-8276
Additional Keywords:	EMIC waves, Trapped electron flux, Sub‐MeV electron loss, GPS CXD
Date made live:	19 Apr 2021 09:01 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/530077

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