FG: System Understanding of Radiation Belt Particle Dynamics through Multi-spacecraft and Ground-based Observations and Modeling

Focus Group Chairs

Hong Zhao, LASP, University of Colorado Boulder (hong.zhao@lasp.colorado.edu)

Lauren Blum, NASA Goddard Flight Center (lauren.w.blum@nasa.gov)

Sasha Ukhorskiy, JHU/APL (sasha.ukhorskiy@jhuapl.edu)

Xiangrong Fu, New Mexico Consortium (sfu@newmexicoconsortium.org)

Focus Group Science Questions

This focus group (FG) aims to deepen understanding of radiation belt particle dynamics on both local and global scales through coordinated measurements from multi-spacecraft as well as ground-based observations, combining with theoretical and modeling efforts. The science goals of this FG are to advance our understanding of newly explored topics which will greatly benefit from such coordinated measurements, specifically: 1) the physical mechanisms related to radiation belt electron acceleration and loss on short timescales (minutes to hours); 2) quantification of energetic electron precipitation into the atmosphere and the related physical mechanisms; 3) the properties and spatiotemporal distribution of waves in radiation belts and their effects on radiation belt particles; 4) dynamics of inner belt and slot region particles.