Resonant scattering of energetic electrons by unusual low-frequency hiss

Authors

Binbin Ni, University of California - Los AngelesFollow
Wen Li, University of California - Los Angeles
R. M. Thorne, University of California - Los AngelesFollow
J. Bortnik, University of California - Los AngelesFollow
Qianli Ma, University of California - Los Angeles
Lunjin Chen, University of California - Los Angeles
C A. Kletzing, University of IowaFollow
W. S. Kurth, University of IowaFollow
G. B. Hospodarsky, University of IowaFollow
Geoffrey Reeves, Los Alamos National LaboratoryFollow
Harlan E. Spence, University of New HampshireFollow
J. B. Blake, Aerospace CorporationFollow
Joseph F. Fennell, Aerospace CorporationFollow
S. Claudepierre, Aerospace CorporationFollow

Abstract

Abstract

We quantify the resonant scattering effects of the unusual low-frequency dawnside plasmaspheric hiss observed on 30 September 2012 by the Van Allen Probes. In contrast to normal (∼100-2000 Hz) hiss emissions, this unusual hiss event contained most of its wave power at ∼20-200 Hz. Compared to the scattering by normal hiss, the unusual hiss scattering speeds up the loss of ∼50-200 keV electrons and produces more pronounced pancake distributions of ∼50-100 keV electrons. It is demonstrated that such unusual low-frequency hiss, even with a duration of a couple of hours, plays a particularly important role in the decay and loss process of energetic electrons, resulting in shorter electron lifetimes for ∼50-400 keV electrons than normal hiss, and should be carefully incorporated into global modeling of radiation belt electron dynamics during periods of intense injections.

Department

Physics

Publication Date

3-2014

Journal Title

Geophysical Research Letters

Publisher

American Geophysical Union Publications

Digital Object Identifier (DOI)

10.1002/2014GL059389

Document Type

Article

Recommended Citation

Ni, B., et al. (2014), Resonant scattering of energetic electrons by unusual low-frequency hiss, Geophys. Res. Lett., 41, 1854–1861, doi:10.1002/2014GL059389.

Rights

© 2014. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.