Other
Scientific paper
Dec 2002
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2002agufmsm51a0507c&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2002, abstract #SM51A-0507
Other
2730 Magnetosphere: Inner
Scientific paper
Gamma ray observations from the BATSE experiment on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory indicate that some gamma ray bursts originate in the Earth's atmosphere near large-scale thunderstorm systems. It is believed that these gamma ray bursts consist of bremsstrahling from relativistic electrons accelerated to MeV energies by the intense quasi-static electric fields which temporarily exist above thunderclouds after intense positive cloud to ground discharges. If so, most of these relativistic electrons would escape the atmosphere and enter the Earth's radiation belts without much loss of energy. In the radiation belts the relativistic electron beam will interact with the cold background plasma through the two-stream instability, and some of the relativistic electrons may become trapped in the radiation belts. In the present paper we carry out a theoretical analysis of how relativistic electron beams, which form in the earth's atmosphere, might couple to the magnetosphere. The primary motivation for this study is to assess the contribution of this phenomenon to the relativistic electron population in the inner radiation belts. The interaction of the beam and the cold magnetoplasma results in changes in the beam's velocity distribution. A 1D electrostatic, particle-in-cell (PIC) simulation is run to calculate the evolution of the beam's velocity distribution due to electrostatic interactions for a full traverse of the beam through the magnetosphere (L=2.5). We also assess the importance of other electromagnetic beam/plasma interactions through the use of a 2D, periodic, electromagnetic PIC simulator. On the basis of these interaction models, we estimate the fraction of the original relativistic electron beam that can be trapped in the radiation belts.
Chevalier M. W.
Inan Umran S.
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