Categorization of electron isotropy boundary patterns: ELFIN and POES
observations
Abstract
Magnetic field-line curvature scattering (FLCS) of energetic particles
in the equatorial magnetotail results in isotropization of pitch-angle
distributions, loss-cone filling, and precipitation above a minimum
energy at a given latitude. At a fixed energy, the lowest latitude of
isotropization is the isotropy boundary (IB) for that energy. Nominally,
the IB (latitude) exhibits a characteristic energy dependence due to the
monotonic variation of the equatorial magnetic field intensity Beq with
radial distance. Deviations from this nominal IB dispersion can occur if
the radial Beq variation (spatial or temporal) is non-mononotic and/or
if other precipitation mechanisms prevail. With its sensitive and
detailed measurements of electron spectra up to relativistic energies,
ELFIN’s recent observations reveal a variety of electron IBe patterns
near magnetic midnight which are repeatable enough to warrant
classification. This study aims to categorize the various IBe patterns
observed by ELFIN’s high-fidelity but short lived dataset (a few
months), compare them with simultaneous nearby POES observations, which
are made with a limited energy coverage and resolution but last for
decades, and discuss their possible interpretation. The general
agreement between ELFIN and POES IB observations indicate a relatively
large-scale nature of IBe patterns. Surprisingly, there exists a large
number (up to 2/3 of all events) of non-monotonic-or steep/multiple-IB
patterns. This suggest an abundance of non-trivial tail current sheet
structures or a mixed contribution of two mechanisms in the vicinity of
IBe in these cases.