Modeled Solar Energetic Particle Trapping in the Earth's Radiation Belts During Geomagnetic Storms and Comparison With Observed Energy Spectra
Abstract
Solar energetic particles (SEPs) may be promptly trapped in the Earth's radiation belts during geomagnetic storms due to shock related compressions in the geomagnetic cutoff (Kress et al. 2004; 2005). As a test of this non-adiabatic mechanism for populating energetic ion belts, SAMPEX energy spectra from newly formed belts between L=2 and L=3 are compared with numerically modeled magnetospheric SEP fluxes. Beginning with an isotropic energetic particle distribution with energy spectra measured on open field lines mapping directly to the solar wind, the formation of new belts is modeled by following test particle Lorentz trajectories in time dependent fields obtained from the Lyon-Feder-Mobarry (LFM) global MHD magnetospheric simulation code.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2005
- Bibcode:
- 2005AGUFMSA21A0285K
- Keywords:
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- 2720 Energetic particles: trapped;
- 2740 Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics;
- 2753 Numerical modeling;
- 2774 Radiation belts;
- 2784 Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions