A Remarkable Natural Experiment: The Extremely Quiet Sun (2007-2009) and its Effect on Earth's Radiation Belts

Details A Remarkable Natural Experiment: The Extremely Quiet Sun (2007-2009) and its Effect on Earth's Radiation Belts A Remarkable Natural Experiment: The Extremely Quiet Sun (2007-2009) and its Effect on Earth's Radiation Belts

Dec 2009

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2009agufmsm21b..05f&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2009, abstract #SM21B-05

Physics

[2772] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Waves And Instabilities, [2774] Magnetospheric Physics / Radiation Belts

Scientific paper

In late 2008 and into 2009, the Earth’s electron radiation belts have virtually disappeared. This is unprecedented in the observational record. The Sun has been going through its most profound minimum of activity in the modern era. The paucity of sunspot activity and the associated absence of major solar coronal mass ejections has, in turn, meant that no large geomagnetic storms or other such space weather events have occurred within the Earth’s magnetosphere. The minimum of solar activity has led to an almost complete cessation of external drivers - and the radiation regions around the Earth (the Van Allen radiation belts) have thereby attained their most reduced, quiescent state ever directly witnessed. The events now underway with the quiet Sun offer a rich opportunity to see how quickly, effectively, and completely the radiation belts can naturally be depleted toward their putative ground state. We observe that the electron radiation belt fluxes (E > 2 MeV) in 2009 have been reduced by a factor of 10 4-10 5-compared to 2003-2004. Moreover, the slot region between the inner and outer Van Allen belts has spread outward to L > 4, thereby making a broad region devoid of electrons in what previously was the heart of the outer zone.

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