Physics of Earth’s Radiation Belts
Theory and Observations
Author(s)
Koskinen, Hannu E. J.
Kilpua, Emilia K. J.
Language
EnglishAbstract
This open access book serves as textbook on the physics of the radiation belts surrounding the Earth. Discovered in 1958 the famous Van Allen Radiation belts were among the first scientific discoveries of the Space Age. Throughout the following decades the belts have been under intensive investigation motivated by the risks of radiation hazards they expose to electronics and humans on spacecraft in the Earth’s inner magnetosphere. This textbook teaches the field from basic theory of particles and plasmas to observations which culminated in the highly successful Van Allen Probes Mission of NASA in 2012-2019. Using numerous data examples the authors explain the relevant concepts and theoretical background of the extremely complex radiation belt region, with the emphasis on giving a comprehensive and coherent understanding of physical processes affecting the dynamics of the belts. The target audience are doctoral students and young researchers who wish to learn about the physical processes underlying the acceleration, transport and loss of the radiation belt particles in the perspective of the state-of-the-art observations.
Keywords
Earth's radiation belts; Van Allen belts; charged particle motion in Earth’s magnetosphere; sources and losses of radiation belt particles; whistler mode chorus; plasmaspheric hiss; electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves; wave-particle interactions; Pc5 waves; open accessISBN
9783030821678Publisher
Springer NaturePublisher website
http://www.springernature.com/oabooksPublication date and place
2022Imprint
Springer International PublishingSeries
Astronomy and Astrophysics Library,Classification
Geophysics
Plasma physics
Astronomy, space and time
Aerospace and aviation technology
Earth sciences