HR: 09:10h
AN: SM11B-05 [Abstracts]
TI: Acceleration and extreme distortion within the Van Allen radiation belts during the "Halloween" solar
storms of 2003
AU: Monk, S
EM: monk@lasp.colorado.edu
AF: LASP/Univ. of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303-7814
United States
AU: * Baker, D N
EM: daniel.baker@lasp.colorado.edu
AF: LASP/Univ. of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303-7814
United States
AU: Kanekal, S G
EM: kanekal@surya.umd.edu
AF: LASP/Univ. of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303-7814
United States
AU: Li, X
EM: lix@paracel.colorado.edu
AF: LASP/Univ. of Colorado, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, CO 80303-7814
United States
AU: Goldstein, J
EM: jgoldstein@swri.edu
AF: Southwest Research Institute, PO Drawer 28510, San Antonio, TX 78284
United States
AU: Burch, J L
EM: jburch@swri.edu
AF: Southwest Research Institute, PO Drawer 28510, San Antonio, TX 78284
United States
AB:
The center of the outer Van Allen radiation belt is usually about 20000 to 25000 km away from Earth. This belt of high-energy
electrons that are trapped on magnetic field lines in near-Earth space was enhanced and driven into a highly unusual
configuration during the recent solar activity in late October and November - known by scientists as the "Halloween Storm" of
2003. During and following the Halloween Storm, the Van Allen belt electron population was powerfully accelerated and
redistributed inward. From November 1 to November 10, the outer belt had its center only about 10000 km from Earth's
equatorial surface. As shown here using IMAGE spacecraft data, the Earth's ionized outer atmosphere (plasmasphere) was
displaced inward (to an unprecedented degree) in October-November 2003, and concurrently the whole radiation belt structure
was transformed. The region between the Van Allen belts, normally devoid of particles, became the location of highest
radiation belt particle intensities. Such a remarkable deformation of the entire magnetosphere has not previously been
witnessed and implies surprisingly powerful acceleration and loss processes deep within Earth's magnetosphere.
DE: 2720 Energetic particles, trapped
DE: 2730 Magnetosphere--inner
DE: 2740 Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics
DE: 2768 Plasmasphere
DE: 2788 Storms and substorms
SC: SPA-Magnetospheric Physics [SM]
MN: 2004 AGU Fall Meeting