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Observations of relativistic electron precipitation due to combined scattering of whistler-mode and EMIC waves
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  • Muhammad Fraz Bashir,
  • Anton V Artemyev,
  • Xiao-Jia Zhang,
  • Vassilis Angelopoulos,
  • Ethan Tsai,
  • Colin Wilkins
Muhammad Fraz Bashir
University of California Los Angeles

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Anton V Artemyev
UCLA IGPP
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Xiao-Jia Zhang
The University of Texas at Dallas
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Vassilis Angelopoulos
University of California Los Angeles
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Ethan Tsai
UCLA
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Colin Wilkins
University of California, Los Angeles
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Abstract

The two most important wave modes responsible for energetic electron scattering to the Earth’s ionosphere are electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves and whistler-mode waves. In this study, we report direct observations of energetic electron (from 50 keV to 2.5 MeV) scattering driven by the combined effect of whistler-mode and EMIC waves using ELFIN measurements. We analyze several events exhibiting such properties, and show that electron resonant interactions with whistler-mode waves may enhance relativistic electron precipitation by EMIC waves. During a prototypical event which benefits from conjugate THEMIS measurements, we demonstrate that below the minimum resonance energy (Emin) of EMIC waves, the whistler-mode wave may both scatter electrons into the loss-cone and also accelerate them to higher energy (1-3 MeV). These accelerated electrons above Emin resonate with EMIC waves that, in turn, quickly scatter those electrons into the loss-cone. This enhances relativistic electron precipitation beyond what EMIC waves alone could achieve.
01 Aug 2023Submitted to ESS Open Archive
04 Aug 2023Published in ESS Open Archive