Solar wind-driven ULF activity in Earth's inner radiation belt: Effects on trapped electrons

We report that, before and during multi-banded energetic electron events observed at near-equatorial, low L-values in the Van Allen Probes RBSPICE electron flux data, ULF power is distributed quasi-uniformly across broad ULF ranges (e.g., 9-20 minutes) for hours at a time. Data are used from 40+ conjugate ground-based magnetometers within the L-shell range [1-2]. This finding of geomagnetic power levels is in contrast to previous conclusions from low Earth-orbit DEMETER spacecraft data that similar trapped particle structures result from power distributed quasi-monochromatically at some central period within this band. Though modeling results associated with previous claims reproduce the multi-band energy structure in the simulated electron flux data, the model hinges on the existence of a sole monochromatic wave whose power is distributed over a range of azimuthal wave numbers. Given that we find the magnetometer data from many sites to have power distributed quasi-uniformly over a broad ULF range, we note that it's possible to isolate a "quasi-monochromatic" ULF wave of one's choosing from such a spectrum given the right choice of a filter. We also show that the ribbed energy structures in the RBSPICE electron fluxes are highly associated with the Kp Index and solar wind data; specifically, the structures seem to be associated with the speed of the solar wind, and therefore with the passage of interplanetary structures past Earth.