Microbursts and Ribbons: Observations from LEO
Abstract
Microbursts are a temporal feature lasting less than a second. Ribbons are very narrow spatial features on the order of 10s of meters. When observing these two phenomena from a low Earth orbit (LEO) from a single satellite, these two phenomena are difficult to differentiate. The time it takes for a LEO satellite to traverse a ribbon is comparable to the length of a microburst. Using two satellites, such as AC6, one can start to determine the characteristics of each. For instance, a ribbon is able to last for minutes with little change to the structure observed within the narrow region. Both phenomena are thought to be driven through wave particle interactions, specifically through cyclotron resonance including chorus wave interactions.
To better understand the characteristics between the two, we have performed a hypothetical test. We assume that a wave-particle interaction has occurred and pushed particles into the drift loss and bounce loss cone. We then follow the particles as they drift where we can have a simulated AC6 satellite fly through the drift path. Comparing the modeled results to observations will help inform ideas about the potential relationship between mircobursts and ribbons.- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2019
- Bibcode:
- 2019AGUFMSM42A..05H
- Keywords:
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- 2736 Magnetosphere/ionosphere interactions;
- MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS;
- 2772 Plasma waves and instabilities;
- MAGNETOSPHERIC PHYSICS;
- 7867 Wave/particle interactions;
- SPACE PLASMA PHYSICS;
- 7984 Space radiation environment;
- SPACE WEATHER