Radial diffusion analysis of outer radiation belt electrons during the October 9, 1990, magnetic storm

Abstract

The response of outer radiation belt relativistic electrons to the October 9, 1990, magnetic storm is analyzed in detail using a radial diffusion model and data from the Combined Release and Radiation Effects Satellite (CRRES) and the Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL) geosynchronous satellite 1989‐046. Electron measurements are expressed in terms of phase space density as a function of the three adiabatic invariants determined from CRRES magnetic field data and the Tsyganenko 1989 Kp‐dependent magnetic field model. The radial diffusion model is implemented with a time‐dependent radial diffusion coefficient parameterized by Kp, and a time‐dependent outer boundary condition scaled by geosynchronous electron data. The results show that radial diffusion propagates outer boundary variations into the heart of the outer radiation belt, accounting for both significant decreases and increases in the <1 MeV electron flux throughout that region. It is further shown that the gradual increase throughout the recovery phase of the >1 MeV electrons is inconsistent with the radial diffusion model given the parameter regime chosen for this study. Greatly enhanced whistler chorus waves observed by CRRES throughout the recovery phase suggest that a possible explanation for the inconsistency may be electron acceleration via wave‐particle interaction.