Sun  ID: 3115

Gaps in the Earth's Radiation Belts

Visualizations by Tom Bridgman Released on March 8, 2005
The Earth's radiation belts (violet & white) change considerably due to a number of influences, ranging from a changing solar wind to the lightning on the Earth. Here we see a range of variation in the electron flux in early December 2003. White indicates higher electron flux than violet. The gray curves represent the lines of the Earth's magnetic field. These radiation belts are constructed on a per-orbit basis with data from SAMPEX.
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The IMAGE satellite passes through the Earth's radiation environment.
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Inner and outer belts have a relatively faint gap between them.
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The IMAGE satellite (red dot with trail) moves into view.
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More energetic electrons are cleared out, created a more well-defined gap between the belts.
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The gap has become larger as the inner belt shrinks.

Visualization Credits

Tom Bridgman (Global Science and Technology, Inc.): Lead Animator
James Green (NASA/GSFC): Scientist
Please give credit for this item to:
NASA/Goddard Space Flight Center Scientific Visualization Studio

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https://svs.gsfc.nasa.gov/3115

Mission:
Solar Anomalous and Magnetospherice Particle Explorer (SAMPEX)

Data Used:
Solar Anomalous and Magnetospheric Particle Explorer (SAMPEX)/PET
2003-12-01T00:00 - 2003-12-10T23:59
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SSCweb also referred to as: SSCweb ephemerides
Ephemeris - NASA/GSFC Space Physics Data Facility - 2003-12-01T00:00 - 2003-12-10T23:59
Satellite ephemerides
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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:
Lightning and the Safe Zone

Keywords:
SVS >> Energetic Particles
SVS >> Magnetic Fields
DLESE >> Space science
SVS >> Orbit
SVS >> Radiation Belts
NASA Science >> Sun