SM009-09
Atmospheric Ionization from Radiation Belt Electrons from 2012-2019 based on Van Allen Probes and FIREBIRD-II Observations

Monday, 7 December 2020: 17:54
Virtual
Katharine Duderstadt1, Chia-Lin Huang1, J Bernard Blake2, Alexander B Crew3, Arlo Johnson4, Isabella M Householder1, David M Klumpar4, Daniel Robert Marsh5, Timothy Raeder1, John Glen Sample4, Mykhaylo Shumko6, Sonya S Smith1, Harlan E. Spence1 and Francis Vitt5, (1)University of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, (2)The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (3)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, (4)Montana State University, Bozeman, MT, United States, (5)National Center for Atmospheric Research, Boulder, CO, United States, (6)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States
Abstract:
This study addresses the atmospheric impacts of energetic electrons precipitating from the Van Allen radiation belts. The NASA Van Allen Probes (RBSP-ECT MagEIS) dataset provides distributions of electrons (30 keV to 4 MeV) within the outer radiation belt from 2012-2019. The goal of this work is to estimate atmospheric electron precipitation of these electrons and the resulting atmospheric ionization profiles. Methods rely on a statistical study of ratios of precipitating and trapped electrons as a function of energy, L-shell, and Kp during spacecraft conjunctions between the Van Allen Probes and the FIREBIRD-II polar orbiting CubeSats from 2015-2019. These ratios are applied to the entire 2012-2019 MagEIS dataset to create maps of electron precipitation as a function of energy, L-shell, and time. Atmospheric ionization profiles are then calculated with the ultimate goal of quantifying enhancements of nitrogen oxides (NOx) and resulting reductions of ozone (O3) in the middle atmosphere using a global atmospheric model (CESM-WACCM).
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