Radiation Belt Wave Observations on the Van Allen Probes and Opportunities for Lab Experiments

The physics of the creation, loss, and transport of radiation belt particles is intimately connected to the electric and magnetic fields which mediate these processes. A large range of field and particle interactions are involved in this physics from large-scale ring current ion and magnetic field dynamics to microscopic kinetic interactions of whistler-mode chorus waves with energetic electrons. To measure these kinds of radiation belt interactions, NASA implemented the two-satellite Van Allen Probes mission. As part of the mission, the Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science (EMFISIS) investigation is an integrated set of instruments consisting of a tri-axial fluxgate magnetometer (MAG) and a Waves instrument which includes a tri-axial search coil magnetometer (MSC). These wave measurements include AC electric and magnetic fields from 10Hz to 400 kHz. We show a variety of waves thought to be important for wave particle interactions in the radiation belts: EMIC waves, magnetosonic waves, and whistler mode waves including upper and lower band chorus. Several of these wave modes could benefit from laboratory studies to further refine our understanding of the detailed physics of the wave-particle interactions which lead to energization, pitch angle scattering, and cross-field transport. Examples are shown to illustrate some of these wave/particle processes to show relationships between wave activity and particle process observed in the inner magnetosphere.