Earth  Sun  ID: 3052

Earth's Radiation Belts with Safe Zone Orbit

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on December 15, 2004
Spacecraft orbiting in the 'Safe Zone', between two and three Earth radii, can be subjected to high levels of harmful radiation as the radiation belts fluctuate in response to space weather events.

NOTE: This visualization shows the Earth's magnetic dipole field lines rotating rigidly with the Earth. Technically, this is inaccurate. Ions and electrons in the lower atmosphere can create currents which can make these lines 'drag' with Earth's rotation, but this will occur mostly near the Earth and not higher up. More details on this process can be found in the FAQ at the The Exploration of the Earth's Magnetosphere web site, Does the Earth's magnetic field rotate?.
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This movie displays the changing radiation belts from the solar storm as well as a satellite orbit (red) in the 'Safe Zone'.
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Here a satellites orbit is well within the Safe Zone. Only the outer belt is visible at this time. The inner belt is too faint to be distinguished on this data scale.
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As the radiation belts move inward, the satellite now passes through regions of high-energy electrons.
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As the belts return to their quiescent state, radiation levels at the satellite decrease.
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Later still, the Safe Zone re-opens. The inner belts have not yet shed the high-energy electrons from the event and so their enhanced electron flux makes them visible on this data scale.

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
James W. Williams (GST): Animator
Greg Shirah (NASA/GSFC): Animator
Daniel Baker (LASP): Scientist
Shrikanth G. Kanekal (NOAA): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

Short URL to share this page:
https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3052

Mission:
Solar Anomalous and Magnetospherice Particle Explorer (SAMPEX)

Data Used:
Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX)/PET
2003/10/17 - 2003/12/25
view all stories where this data set is used
Note: While we identify the data sets used in these visualizations, we do not store any further details nor the data sets themselves on our site.

This item is part of this series:
Halloween 2003 Solar Storms Revisited

Goddard TV Tape:
G2004-071

Keywords:
SVS >> Geomagnetic Field
DLESE >> Space science
SVS >> Radiation Belts
SVS >> Space Weather
NASA Science >> Earth
NASA Science >> Sun