Speaker
Description
The Earth's outer radiation belt exhibits periodic variability across multiple time scales, with electron fluxes varying coherently at timescales comparable to the solar cycle, seasonal variations, Carrington rotations, and sub-Carrington periods. Each of these periodicities has been investigated separately, with different mechanisms proposed to explain each one. In this study, we combine measurements of plasma and field parameters from the solar surface, interplanetary space, and near-Earth environment to propose a new unifying mechanism that explains the observed coherent variability in the electron radiation belts across multiple temporal scales, ranging from solar cycle to Carrington and sub-Carrington periods. We provide clear evidence that periodic exposure of Earth’s magnetic environment to high-Alfvenicity solar wind streams emanating from coronal holes enables efficient energy transfer into the inner magnetosphere, driving periodic enhancements of electron flux.
