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Effects of VLF transmitter waves on the inner belt and slot region

Signals from VLF transmitters can leak from the Earth-ionosphere wave guide into the inner magnetosphere, where they propagate in the whistler mode and contribute to electron dynamics in the inner radiation belt and slot region. Observations show that the waves from each VLF transmitter are highly localised, peaking on the nightside in the vicinity of the transmitter. In this study we use ~5 years of Van Allen probe observations to construct global statistical models of the bounce-averaged pitch angle diffusion coefficients for each individual VLF transmitter, as a function of L*, Magnetic Local Time (MLT) and geographic longitude. We construct a 1D pitch-angle diffusion model with implicit longitude and MLT dependence to show that VLF transmitter waves weakly scatter electrons into the drift loss cone. We find that global averages of the wave power, determined by averaging the wave power over MLT and longitude, capture the long-term dynamics of the loss process, despite the highly localised nature of the waves in space. We use our new model to assess the role of VLF transmitters waves, hiss waves, and Coulomb collisions on electron loss in the inner radiation belt and slot region. At moderate relativistic energies, E~ keV, waves from VLF transmitters reduce electron lifetimes by an order of magnitude or more, down to the order of 200 days near the outer edge of the inner radiation belt. However, VLF transmitter waves are ineffective at removing multi-MeV electrons from either the inner radiation belt or slot region.

Funding was provided by the NERC grant NE/P01738X/1.

Simple

Alternate title
Polar Data Centre (PDC) record GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01152
Date (Publication)
2020-01-31
Identifier
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/dms/metadata.php?id= / GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01152
Custodian
  British Antarctic Survey
High Cross, Madingley Road , Cambridge , CB3 0ET , UK
+44 (0)1223 221400
Originator
  UK Polar Data Centre, Natural Environment Research Council, UK Research & Innovation - Ross, J., Meredith, N., Glauert, S., Horne, R., & Clilverd, M.
High Cross, Madingley , Cambridge , CB3 0ET , UK
+44 (0)1223 221400
Maintenance and update frequency
unknown Unknown
Keywords
  • NDGO0001
NERC OAI Harvesting
  • NERC_DDC
GCMD Parameter Valids
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Sun-earth Interactions > Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Dynamics
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Sun-earth Interactions > Ionosphere/Magnetosphere Dynamics > Plasma Waves
  • EARTH SCIENCE > Sun-earth Interactions > Solar Energetic Particle Flux > Electron Flux
BAS Free-text keywords
  • VLF transmitters
  • electron diffusion
  • inner radiation belt
  • plasma waves
  • slot region
Access constraints
otherRestrictions Other restrictions
Metadata language
EnglishEnglish
Topic category
  • Climatology, meteorology, atmosphere
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Begin date
2012-10-26
End date
2017-08-31
Reference system identifier
OGP / urn:ogc:def:crs:EPSG::4326
Distribution format
Distributor
  Polar Data Centre - British Antarctic Survey
+44 (0)1223 221400
Protocol
http
Name
GET DATA
Function
download Download
Hierarchy level
dataset Dataset

Domain consistency

Measure identification
INSPIRE / Conformity_001

Conformance result

Date
Explanation
See the referenced specification
Pass
No
Statement
The wave data have been calibrated and quality-controlled prior to release.
File identifier
GB_NERC_BAS_PDC_01152 XML
Metadata language
EnglishEnglish
Hierarchy level
dataset Dataset
Date stamp
2020-01-31
Metadata standard name
NERC profile of ISO19115:2003
Metadata standard version
1.0
Point of contact
  British Antarctic Survey
+44 (0)1223 221400
Dataset URI
http://www.antarctica.ac.uk/dms/metadata.php?id=GB/NERC/BAS/PDC/01152
 
 

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