Controlling Factors of Chorus Spectral Gaps
Abstract The present study compares a single‐band chorus wave against a banded chorus wave observed by Van Allen Probes at adjacent times, and demonstrates that the single‐band chorus wave is associated with an anisotropic electron population over a broad energy range, while the banded chorus wave is accompanied by an electron phase space density plateau and an electron anisotropy reduction around Landau resonant energies. We further compare banded chorus waves with different spectral gap widths, and show that a wider spectral gap is associated with electron isotropization extending to higher energies with respect to the equatorial Landau resonant energy. We suggest that early generated chorus waves isotropize electrons via Landau resonant acceleration, and the waves that propagate to higher latitudes isotropize electrons at higher energies. The isotropization extending to higher energies leads to a larger spectral gap of new chorus waves after electrons bounce back to the equator.
Authors
- Wen Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3495-4550)
- J. B. Blake (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7439-4362)
- Jacob Bortnik (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8811-8836)
- H. O. Funsten (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-6817-1039)
- D. P. Hartley (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8630-8054)
- W. S. Kŭrth (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-5471-6202)
- Xin An (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2507-8632)
- D. N. Baker (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-5909-0926)
- L. R. Lyons (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9867-3638)
- G. D. Reeves (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7985-8098)
- H. E. Spence (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2526-2205)
- G. B. Hospodarsky (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-9200-9878)
- Jinxing Li (ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-0500-1056)
Institutions
- Boston University (US)
- University of Iowa (US)
- Los Alamos National Laboratory (US)
- University of New Hampshire (US)
- University of California, Los Angeles (US)
- The Aerospace Corporation (US)
- University of Colorado Boulder (US)
- New Mexico Consortium (US)
- Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics (US)
Publication Details
- Journal
- Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics
- Published
- 2024-09-26
- DOI
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2023ja031893
- Primary Topic
- Ionosphere and magnetosphere dynamics
- Type
- article
- Field-Weighted Citation Impact
- 0.00
Funders
- National Science Foundation
- U.S. Department of Energy
- National Aeronautics and Space Administration
- Alfred P. Sloan Foundation
- Nuclear Safety and Security Commission