Rapid radiation belt losses occurring during high-speed sola

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TitleRapid radiation belt losses occurring during high-speed solar wind stream-driven storms: Importance of energetic electron precipitationAbstractRecent studies have shown how trapped energetic radiation belt electron fluxes rapidly 'drop out' during small geomagnetic disturbances triggered by the arrival of a solar wind stream interface (SWSI). In the current study, we use satellite and ground-based observations to describe the significance of energetic electron precipitation (EEP) and direct magnetopause shadowing loss mechanisms, both of which have been suggested as possible causes of the dropouts. Superposed epoch analysis of low-Earth-orbiting Polar-Orbiting Environmental Satellites (POES) spacecraft observations indicate that neither 'classic' magnetopause shadowing nor EEP appear able to explain the dropouts. However, SWSI-triggered dropouts in trapped flux are followed Ìƒ3 h later by large increases of EEP, which start as the trapped electron fluxes begin to recover and may be signatures of the acceleration process, which rebuilds the trapped fluxes. Ground-based observations indicate typical >30 keV EEP flux magnitudes of Ìƒ8 Ã— 105 electrons cm-2 sr -1 s-1. While these are Ìƒ10 times larger than the equivalent precipitating fluxes measured by POES, this is consistent with the small viewing window of the POES telescopes. Â© 2012. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.Funding Detailsbas0100023, NERC, Natural Environment Research Council

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1st AuthorHendry, A. AuthorHendry, A.Rodger, C.Clilverd, M.Thomson, N.Morley, S.Raita, T.Year2012JournalGeophysical Monograph SeriesVolume199Pages213-223DOI10.1029/2012GM001299URLhttps://www.scopus.com/inward/recor.....4561cc31379812d0c0d6bd3caPublisherAmerican Geophysical UnionKeywordsrank1

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CitationHendry, A., Rodger, C., Clilverd, M., Thomson, N., Morley, S. and Raita, T. (2012). Rapid radiation belt losses occurring during high-speed solar wind stream-driven storms: Importance of energetic electron precipitation. Geophysical Monograph Series, 199:213-223