Acceleration of relativistic electrons in Earth’s magnetotail
Presentation Type
Talk
Presenter Format
Virtual Meeting Talk
Topic
Nightside Science
Start Date
11-5-2022 10:45 AM
Abstract
We present results from a series of studies using MMS data to investigate the acceleration of relativistic electrons in Earth’s magnetotail. We present new results of an automated algorithm to data mine the MMS FEEPS electron dataset, which has successfully identified >37,000 sudden, relativistic (80-120 keV) electron enhancements between 2017-2021 (inclusive). We present statistics corresponding to these events, which reproduce spatial distributions indicated by previous statistical results of energetic particle injections from LANL-GEO and THEMIS plus strongly indicate the relationship between substorm activity in the central plasma sheet and relativistic electron enhancements. We discuss ongoing work of applying machine learning to this dataset before diving into details of what might be accelerating electrons in the plasma sheet so effectively, rapidly, and efficiently. We conclude with implications of these magnetotail electrons on radiation belt physics and Earth and for the importance of magnetic reconnection for particle acceleration.
Acceleration of relativistic electrons in Earth’s magnetotail
We present results from a series of studies using MMS data to investigate the acceleration of relativistic electrons in Earth’s magnetotail. We present new results of an automated algorithm to data mine the MMS FEEPS electron dataset, which has successfully identified >37,000 sudden, relativistic (80-120 keV) electron enhancements between 2017-2021 (inclusive). We present statistics corresponding to these events, which reproduce spatial distributions indicated by previous statistical results of energetic particle injections from LANL-GEO and THEMIS plus strongly indicate the relationship between substorm activity in the central plasma sheet and relativistic electron enhancements. We discuss ongoing work of applying machine learning to this dataset before diving into details of what might be accelerating electrons in the plasma sheet so effectively, rapidly, and efficiently. We conclude with implications of these magnetotail electrons on radiation belt physics and Earth and for the importance of magnetic reconnection for particle acceleration.
