4.7 Article

Electron Energization Signatures in Traveling Kinetic Alfven Waves at Storm Time Injection Fronts

Journal

GEOPHYSICAL RESEARCH LETTERS
Volume 49, Issue 15, Pages -

Publisher

AMER GEOPHYSICAL UNION
DOI: 10.1029/2022GL099318

Keywords

dispersive Alfven waves; field aligned electrons; inner magnetosphere; kinetic Alfven waves; geomagnetic storms; substorms

Funding

  1. NASA [NAS5-01072]
  2. JHU/APL contract [921647]
  3. RBSP-ECT JHU/APL [967399]
  4. National Center for Atmospheric Research [UPR10002]
  5. [80NSSC18K0835]
  6. [80NSSC18K0843]
  7. [NNX17AD36G]
  8. [NNX17A155G]
  9. [NSF1602941]
  10. [NSF1832207]

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This study investigates the properties of traveling kinetic Alfven waves (KAWs) and their role in energizing electrons in the inner magnetosphere during a geomagnetic storm. The results demonstrate the crucial importance of cold electrons for reproducing observed distributions.
The properties of traveling kinetic Alfven waves (KAWs) and their role in energizing electrons in the inner magnetosphere during a geomagnetic storm are examined using measurements from the Van Allen Probes and Gyrofluid-Kinetic Electron (GKE) model simulations. Traveling KAWs occur in the vicinity of energetic plasma injection fronts in association with magnetic field dipolarizations. The KAWs coincide with energized field-aligned electrons at energies less than or similar to 1 keV. By using observational constraints and incorporating hot and cold electron populations, the GKE simulations are able to reproduce the observed energized electron distribution signatures. The modeling results demonstrate the crucial importance of cold electrons for best observational agreement. The results show that the electron response to KAWs can be substantially different for opposing current regions and are a sensitive function of the cold electron relative density.

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