LASP Magnetosphere Seminars
Drift Phase Structures: Revealing and Deciphering an Elegant Radiation Belt Pattern
Solène Lejosne
(Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California, Berkeley)
Abstract
This talk will deal with transient features present in radiation belt spectrograms called drift phase structures. Their observations have multiplied over the last decade, so much so that they are now viewed as a ubiquitous – and universal – radiation belt attribute. Yet, what exactly generates drift phase structures remains unclear. While well accepted as a mark of radial transport, drift phase structures are sometimes interpreted as drift echoes resulting from impulsive electric field perturbations and sometimes viewed as evidence of drift resonance with ultra-low-frequency waves.
This presentation will focus on a remarkable case in which drift phase structures were present over a broad energy range (from 50 to 600 keV) during an entire orbit of the Van Allen Probes mission. We will introduce a way to visualize drift phase structures that we will then leverage to get experimental information on their possible generation mechanisms, a necessary step towards a comprehensive understanding of radiation belt dynamics.
