Radiation Belt Electron Acceleration Driven by Very‐Low‐Frequency Transmitter Waves in Near‐Earth Space

Abstract

AbstractWe perform two‐dimensional Fokker–Planck diffusion simulations to quantify the role of Very‐Low‐Frequency (VLF) transmitter waves and other naturally occurring plasma waves in electron acceleration over L = 1.5–3.0. VLF transmitter waves play a dual role in electron acceleration at higher energies from ∼200 to ∼700 keV through energy diffusion, and losses at lower energies below ∼100 keV through pitch angle scattering. Due to the now‐achievable rocket exhaust driven amplification (REDA) of VLF waves suggested by recent studies, control of wave‐induced acceleration can be actively tested with various VLF wave intensities in space. With amplification by a factor of 5, the acceleration by VLF transmitters can overcome the losses by lightning‐generated whistlers and plasmaspheric hiss, leading to net acceleration in the combined scattering. The acceleration occurs within 1 min with amplification factor of 50 dB, which is promising to be observable in the future REDA experiment, representing a feasible test of the theory.