Submitting Campus
Daytona Beach
Department
Physical Sciences
Document Type
Article
Publication/Presentation Date
1-19-2019
Abstract/Description
Cosmic Ray Albedo Neutron Decay (CRAND) has been recently confirmed as a source of energetic electrons at the inner edge of the inner belt by the Colorado Student Space Weather Experiment (CSSWE)mission. Here we use observations from the Detection of Electro‐Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions (DEMETER) mission, to investigate the CRAND contribution to inner belt electrons quantitatively over a broad energy range (~100–800 keV). Spectral fitting analysis supports the conclusion that CRAND is the most important electron source at the inner edge of the innerbelt. For the first time, we show that CRAND is the dominant source of >250‐keV quasitrapped electrons throughout the inner belt and slot region during quiet times. We suggest that additional sources for < 250‐keV electrons exist, perhaps from inward transport. In contrast, dynamics of electrons in the inner belt and slot region is dominated by injections during active times.
Publication Title
Geophysical Research Letters
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL080887
Publisher
John Wiley & Sons, Inc.
Grant or Award Name
NSF CubeSat/magnetospheric program grant AGS 1443749, NESSF grant 80NSSC17K0429, NASA grant NNX15AF56G, and by NASA/RBSP‐ ECT funding through JHU/APL contract 967399 under prime NASA contract NAS5‐01072
Scholarly Commons Citation
Zhang, K., Li, X., Zhao, H., Schiller, Q., Khoo, L.‐Y., Xiang, Z., et al. (2019). Cosmic Ray Albedo Neutron Decay (CRAND) as a source of inner belt electrons: Energy spectrum study. Geophysical Research Letters, 46, 544–552. https://doi.org/10.1029/ 2018GL080887
Additional Information
Dr. Zhang was not affiliated with Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University at the time this paper was published.