TY  - JOUR
A1  - Boyd, A. J.
A1  - Spence, Harlan E.
A1  - Huang, Chia-Lin
A1  - Reeves, Geoffrey D.
A1  - Baker, Daniel N.
A1  - Turner, D. L.
A1  - Claudepierre, Seth G.
A1  - Fennell, Joseph F.
A1  - Blake, J. Bernard
A1  - Shprits, Yuri Y.
T1  - Statistical properties of the radiation belt seed population
JF  - Journal of geophysical research : Space physics
N2  - We present a statistical analysis of phase space density data from the first 26 months of the Van Allen Probes mission. In particular, we investigate the relationship between the tens and hundreds of keV seed electrons and >1 MeV core radiation belt electron population. Using a cross-correlation analysis, we find that the seed and core populations are well correlated with a coefficient of approximate to 0.73 with a time lag of 10-15 h. We present evidence of a seed population threshold that is necessary for subsequent acceleration. The depth of penetration of the seed population determines the inner boundary of the acceleration process. However, we show that an enhanced seed population alone is not enough to produce acceleration in the higher energies, implying that the seed population of hundreds of keV electrons is only one of several conditions required for MeV electron radiation belt acceleration.
Y1  - 2016
U6  - https://doi.org/10.1002/2016JA022652
SN  - 2169-9380
SN  - 2169-9402
VL  - 121
SP  - 7636
EP  - 7646
PB  - American Geophysical Union
CY  - Washington
ER  -