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On the Formation of Phantom Electron Phase Space Density Peaks in Single Spacecraft Radiation Belt Data
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  • Leonid Olifer,
  • Ian Mann,
  • Louis Godwin Ozeke,
  • Steven K. Morley,
  • Hannah L. Louis
Leonid Olifer
University of Alberta

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Ian Mann
University of Alberta
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Louis Godwin Ozeke
University of Alberta
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Steven K. Morley
Los Alamos National Laboratory (DOE)
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Hannah L. Louis
University of Alberta
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Abstract

This paper examines the rapid losses and acceleration of trapped relativistic and ultrarelativistic electron populations in the Van Allen radiation belt during the September 7-9, 2017, geomagnetic storm. By analyzing the dynamics of the last closed drift shell (LCDS) and the electron flux and phase space density (PSD), we show that the electron dropouts are consistent with magnetopause shadowing and outward radial diffusion to the compressed LCDS. During the recovery phase, an in-bound pass of Van Allen Probe A shows an apparent local peak in PSD. However, a fortuitous timing of a crossing of the two Van Allen Probes reveals instead how the apparent PSD peak arises from aliasing monotonic PSD profiles which are rapidly increasing due to acceleration from very fast inwards radial diffusion. In the absence of such multi-satellite conjunctions during fast acceleration events, the source might otherwise be attributed to local acceleration processes.
16 Jun 2021Published in Geophysical Research Letters volume 48 issue 11. 10.1029/2020GL092351