Determining dominant acceleration and loss processes in the Van Allen Belts: The Canadian ORBITALS Mission (Invited)

Details Determining dominant acceleration and loss processes in the Van Allen Belts: The Canadian ORBITALS Mission (Invited) Determining dominant acceleration and loss processes in the Van Allen Belts: The Canadian ORBITALS Mission (Invited)

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsm21b..04m&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SM21B-04

Physics

[2720] Magnetospheric Physics / Energetic Particles: Trapped, [2730] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetosphere: Inner, [2772] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Waves And Instabilities, [2774] Magnetospheric Physics / Radiation Belts

Scientific paper

The Outer Radiation Belt Injection, Transport, Acceleration and Loss Satellite (ORBITALS) mission is proposed as a Canadian Space Agency satellite mission contribution to ILWS. The ORBITALS will provide a unique view of the largely previously unexplored inner magnetosphere. Its mission goal to “understand the acceleration, global distribution, and variability of energetic electrons and ions in the inner magnetosphere” is perfectly aligned with the top geospace priority for the LWS and ILWS programs. This talk will review the ORBITALS scientific objectives and approach to science closure in the context of an international inner magnetosphere constellation, and related ground-based and modelling initiatives. In a 12 hour low inclination orbit, the ORBITALS will come into once daily apogee conjunctions with the extensive ground-based Canadian Geospace Monitoring (CGSM) instrumentation as well as with GOES East and West. Baseline raised perigee will provide both long outer radiation belt dwell times as well as coverage of the outer-most inner radiation belt. In combination, the ORBITALS-CGSM-GOES conjunctions will provide a unique data set with which to address fundamental radiation belt science questions, such as the competition between ULF and VLF acceleration processes, the role of EMIC and VLF waves in loss, and the relationship between these processes and plasmaspheric cold plasma dynamics. As an example, radial diffusion rates derived from GOES and THEMIS electric and magnetic field power will be compared to previous empirical approaches, illustrating the importance of global measurements for identifying dominant or active acceleration mechanisms. In combination with the approved NASA LWS RBSP mission, and the proposed Japanese ERG satellite, the ORBITALS-RBSP-ERG three petal constellation will resolve the spatio-temporal ambiguities and global dynamics and morphology of the Earths radiation belts.

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