Van Allen Belt Punctures and their Correlation with Solar Wind,
Geomagnetic Activity and ULF Waves
Abstract
We investigate the rare events of sudden appearances of relativistic
electrons (>700 keV), which are normally confined to the
Van Allen belts, in the slot region. The frequency of occurrence of
these events are on average 1-2 per year. To cope with the scarcity of
events, in this study we examine 21 years of trapped relativistic
electron fluxes available from the POES and MetOp Space Environment
Monitor (SEM‐2). Our statistical analysis show that these events can
occur even during moderate geomagnetic activity. Occurrence of these
events correlates with high speed solar winds or ICMEs depending on the
phase of the solar cycle. Most importantly, we show that ULF wave
activity plays a significant role in causing these events and the events
could be predicted in 75% of the cases.