THE MAIN OBJECTIVES OF THIS PROPOSAL ARE TO QUANTIFY THE EFFECTS OF THE ANOMALOUS MAGNETIC FIELD GEOMETRIES AND DETERMINE THEIR RELATIVE CONTRIBUTION TO RADIATION BELT ELECTRON DROPOUT. SPECIFICALLY THE PROJECT WILL ADDRESS THE FOLLOWING COMPELLING SCIENCE QUESTIONS: 1) WHEN AND WHERE DO THE THREE DIFFERENT TYPES OF ANOMALOUS MAGNETIC FIELD GEOMETRIES CAUSE SIGNIFICANT LOSS OF RADIATION BELT ELECTRONS? HOW DOES THE EFFECT VARY WITH SOLAR WIND CONDITIONS GEOMAGNETIC CONFIGURATIONS ELECTRON PITCH ANGLE AND ENERGY? 2) ARE THE FLC SCATTERING AND DOB OF RADIATION BELT ELECTRONS A DIFFUSION OR ADVECTION PROCESS OR A MIX OF BOTH? WHAT ARE THE RESULTING DIFFUSION AND ADVECTION RATES? 3) WHAT ARE THE RELATIVE IMPORTANCE OF ELECTRON LOSSES DUE TO ANOMALOUS MAGNETIC FIELD GEOMETRIES (FLC SCATTERING DOB AND MPS) FOR THE DROPOUT OF RADIATION BELT ELECTRONS COMPARED WITH OTHER LOSS MECHANISMS?
$506,018FY2020National Aeronautics and Space AdministrationNASA
West Virginia University Research Corporation, Morgantown WV