The Plasmasphere During Major Geomagnetic Storms: Analysis Of Trapped Particles In The Outer Radiation Belt

The coupling between the Earth’s magnetic field and the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) transported by the solar wind results in a cycle of magnetic field lines opening and closing generally known as the Dungey substorm cycle, mostly governed by the process of magnetic reconnection. The geomagnetic field lines can therefore have either a closed or an open topology, i.e. lower latitude field lines are closed (map from southern ionosphere to the northern), while higher latitude field lines are open (map from one polar ionosphere into interplanetary space). Closed field lines can trap electrically charged particles that bounce between mirror points located in the North and South hemispheres while drifting in longitude around the Earth, forming the plasmasphere, the radiation belts and the ring current. The outer boundary of the plasmasphere is the plasmapause. Its location is mostly driven by the interplay of the corotation electric field of ionospheric origin, and the convection electric field that results from the interaction between the IMF and the geomagnetic field. At times of prolonged intense coupling between these fields, the response of the magnetosphere becomes global and a geomagnetic storm develops. The ring current created by the motion of the trapped energetic particles intensifies and then decays as the storm abates. This study aims to find a possible relationship between the evolution of the trapped population and the process of magnetic reconnection during storm times. The EUV instrument on board the NASA-IMAGE spacecraft observed the distribution of the trapped helium ions (He+) in the plasmasphere. We consider several cases of intense geomagnetic storms observed by the IMAGE satellite. We identify the plasmapause location (Lpp) during those cases. We find a strong correlation between the Dst index and Lpp. The ring current and the trapped particles are expected to vary during storms. We use the Tsyganenko magnetic field model to map the electric potential between the Heppner-Maynard boundary (HMB) in the ionosphere and the magnetosphere and estimate the voltage and electric field in the vicinity of the plasmapause. The ionospheric electric field is deduced from the ionospheric convection velocity measured by the SuperDARN (SD) radar network at high latitudes. The tangential electric field component of the moving plasmapause boundary is estimated from IMAGE-EUV observations of the plasmasphere and is compared with expectations based on the SD data. We combine measurements of the trapped population from IMAGE-EUV and IMAGE-FUV observations of the aurora to better understand and quantify the variability of the Earth's outer radiation belt during strong storms. The auroral precipitation at ionospheric latitude is studied using FUV imaging and compared to the He+ response during the storms.