Microbursts are electron precipitation from the radiation belts that occur in short bursts (~100ms). Although the particle loss from each burst is very small, they occur in sufficiently large numbers that the total loss from the radiation belts may be significant. This is an Atmospheric and Geospace Post-doctoral Fellowship to determine the total loss from the radiation belts in the form of microbursts. The study will use observations from the forthcoming NSF funded FIREBIRD CubeSats, the Van Allen Probes mission and the BARREL balloon array. The FIREBIRD satellites will provide observations of precipitation at two low altitude locations and the BARREL balloon array will provide multiple nearly stationary observations near the Earth. The Van Allen Probes will provide radiation belt observations for context. At each position there will be multiple simultaneous observations. They will determine the size and frequency of microbursts.
This award will provide early career training for a young researcher at Stanford. This project will support his career ambition to be an instrumentalist. If microbursts turn out to be an important loss mechanism for the radiation belts this research will have impact on space weather research.
