Impacts of Time-dependent Magnetotail Reconnection on the Energetic Particle Injections into the Inner Magnetosphere

Using the combined Auburn global hybrid simulation code in 3-D (ANGIE3D) and the Comprehensive Inner Magnetosphere-Ionosphere (CIMI) model, we investigate the dynamic impacts of magnetotail reconnection to the ring current and radiation belts through energetic ion injections. In the self-consistently coupled ANGIE3D-CIMI runs, the hybrid results provide the CIMI model with 3-D magnetic field and the electric potential at the high latitude ionosphere boundary as well as the full ion phase space distribution function at the CIMI outer boundary at the equator. Under a steady southward IMF, multiple fast flows, which are localized structures on the dawn and dusk side of the plasma sheet with strong temperature anisotropy and non-Maxwellian ion distributions, are present due to magnetic reconnection in the plasma sheet. The near-tail reconnection is time-dependent, recurring in a quasi-periodic manner. Correspondingly, multiple peaks in the particle fluxes are present in the inner magnetosphere. The simulation results are compared with MMS observations to understand the tail reconnection, ion heating, and the formation of temperature anisotropy at the front of particle injections. By comparing cases with different IMF strengths, we illustrate the effects of upstream conditions on the energetic particle injections and the subsequent impacts to the ring current ion fluxes.