Tuesday

Radiation belts are known to be present in the magnetospheres of the Earth and other magnetized planets in our solar system. A major question in radiation belt science is how energetic electrons are accelerated to ultra-relativistic energies and become a core population of the radiation belts. The Van Allen Probes mission with high-quality measurements of particles, waves, and fields has provided unprecedented opportunities to comprehensively understand physical processes driving Earth’s radiation belt electron dynamics. We will present our current understanding of the physical mechanisms driving radiation belt electron acceleration in the Earth’s outer radiation belt, including internal acceleration and inward radial transport due to wave-particle interactions. Moreover, the Juno mission has been providing excellent opportunities of evaluating radiation belt electron dynamics at Jupiter. The electron measurements from Juno reveal radial profiles of electron phase space density to provide insights into major electron acceleration processes. Moreover, the plasma wave measurements from Juno are used to explore the electron acceleration mechanisms in the Jovian magnetosphere. The comparative study of radiation belt electron acceleration in the Earth’s and Jovian radiation belts is critical to understand the fundamental and universal electron acceleration processes in the astrophysical plasmas.