Engineering topics

Schulz, Michael

Publications and source records attributed to Schulz, Michael.

At least 19 records

NASA NTRS2019

Global and Regional Trends of Atmospheric Sulfur

The profound changes in global SO[subscript 2] emissions over the last decades have affected atmospheric composition on a regional and global scale with large impact on air quality, atmospheric deposition and the radiative forcing of sulfate aerosols. Reproduction of historical atmospheric pollution levels based on global aerosol models and emission changes is crucial to prove that such models are able to predict future scenarios. Here, we analyze consistency of trends in observations of sulfur components in air and precipitation from major regional networks and estimates from six different global aerosol models from 1990 until 2015. There are large interregional differences in the sulfur trends consistently captured by the models and observations, especially for North America and europe. europe had the largest reductions in sulfur emissions in the first part of the period while the highest reduction came later in North America and east Asia. the uncertainties in both the emissions and the representativity of the observations are larger in Asia. However, emissions from East Asia clearly increased from 2000 to 2005 followed by a decrease, while in India a steady increase over the whole period has been observed and modelled. the agreement between a bottom-up approach, which uses emissions and process-based chemical transport models, with independent observations gives an improved confidence in the understanding of the atmospheric sulfur budget.

Aas, Wenche↗

NASA NTRS2018

Spatial Representativeness Error in the Ground-Level Observation Networks for Black Carbon Radiation Absorption

There is high uncertainty in the direct radiative forcing of black carbon (BC), an aerosol that strongly absorbs solar radiation. The observation-constrained estimate, which is several times larger than the bottom-up estimate, is influenced by the spatial representativeness error due to the mesoscale inhomogeneity of the aerosol fields and the relatively low resolution of global chemistry-transport models. Here we evaluated the spatial representativeness error for two widely used observational networks (AErosol RObotic NETwork and Global Atmosphere Watch) by downscaling the geospatial grid in a global model of BC aerosol absorption optical depth to 0.1° × 0.1°. Comparing the models at a spatial resolution of 2° × 2° with BC aerosol absorption at AErosol RObotic NETwork sites (which are commonly located near emission hot spots) tends to cause a global spatial representativeness error of 30%, as a positive bias for the current top-down estimate of global BC direct radiative forcing. By contrast, the global spatial representativeness error will be 7% for the Global Atmosphere Watch network, because the sites are located in such a way that there are almost an equal number of sites with positive or negative representativeness error.

Wang, Rong↗

NASA NTRS2017

Investigation of Global Particulate Nitrate from the AeroCom Phase III Experiment

An assessment of global particulate nitrate and ammonium aerosol based on simulations from nine models participating in the Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models (AeroCom) phase III study is presented. A budget analysis was conducted to understand the typical magnitude, distribution, and diversity of the aerosols and their precursors among the models. To gain confidence regarding model performance, the model results were evaluated with various observations globally, including ground station measurements over North America, Europe, and east Asia for tracer concentrations and dry and wet depositions, as well as with aircraft measurements in the Northern Hemisphere mid-to-high latitudes for tracer vertical distributions. Given the unique chemical and physical features of the nitrate occurrence, we further investigated the similarity and differentiation among the models by examining (1) the pH-dependent NH3 wet deposition; (2) the nitrate formation via heterogeneous chemistry on the surface of dust and sea salt particles or thermodynamic equilibrium calculation including dust and sea salt ions; and (3) the nitrate coarse-mode fraction (i.e., coarse/total). It is found that HNO3, which is simulated explicitly based on full O3-HOx-NOx-aerosol chemistry by all models, differs by up to a factor of 9 among the models in its global tropospheric burden. This partially contributes to a large difference in NO3(-), whose atmospheric burden differs by up to a factor of 13. The atmospheric burdens of NH3 and NHC 4 differ by 17 and 4, respectively. Analyses at the process level show that the large diversity in atmospheric burdens of NO3(-), NH3, and NHC4(+) is also related to deposition processes. Wet deposition seems to be the dominant process in determining the diversity in NH3 and NHC 4 lifetimes. It is critical to correctly account for contributions of heterogeneous chemical production of nitrate on dust and sea salt, because this process overwhelmingly controls atmospheric nitrate production (typically greater than 80 %) and determines the coarse- and fine-mode distribution of nitrate aerosol.

Ammonium aerosol based on simulations↗

NASA NTRS2017

Aerosols at the Poles: An Aerocom Phase II Multi-Model Evaluation

Atmospheric aerosols from anthropogenic and natural sources reach the polar regions through long-range transport and affect the local radiation balance. Such transport is, however, poorly constrained in present-day global climate models, and few multi-model evaluations of polar anthropogenic aerosol radiative forcing exist. Here we compare the aerosol optical depth (AOD) at 550 nm from simulations with 16 global aerosol models from the AeroCom Phase II model intercomparison project with available observations at both poles. We show that the annual mean multi-model median is representative of the observations in Arctic, but that the intermodel spread is large. We also document the geographical distribution and seasonal cycle of the AOD for the individual aerosol species: black carbon (BC) from fossil fuel and biomass burning, sulfate, organic aerosols (OAs), dust, and sea-salt. For a subset of models that represent nitrate and secondary organic aerosols (SOAs), we document the role of these aerosols at high latitudes. The seasonal dependence of natural and anthropogenic aerosols differs with natural aerosols peaking in winter (seasalt) and spring (dust), whereas AOD from anthropogenic aerosols peaks in late spring and summer. The models produce a median annual mean AOD of 0.07 in the Arctic (defined here as north of 60 degrees N). The models also predict a noteworthy aerosol transport to the Antarctic (south of 70 degrees S) with a resulting AOD varying between 0.01 and 0.02. The models have estimated the shortwave anthropogenic radiative forcing contributions to the direct aerosol effect (DAE) associated with BC and OA from fossil fuel and biofuel (FF), sulfate, SOAs, nitrate, and biomass burning from BC and OA emissions combined. The Arctic modelled annual mean DAE is slightly negative (-0.12 W m(exp. -2), dominated by a positive BC FF DAE in spring and a negative sulfate DAE in summer. The Antarctic DAE is governed by BC FF. We perform sensitivity experiments with one of the AeroCom models (GISS modelE) to investigate how regional emissions of BC and sulfate and the lifetime of BC influence the Arctic and Antarctic AOD. A doubling of emissions in eastern Asia results in a 33 percent increase in Arctic AOD of BC. A doubling of the BC lifetime results in a 39 percent increase in Arctic AOD of BC. However, these radical changes still fall within the AeroCom model range.

Sand, Maria↗

NASA NTRS2016

Global and Regional Radiative Forcing from 20 Reductions in BC, OC and SO4 an HTAP2 Multi-Model Study

In the Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution Phase 2 (HTAP2) exercise, a range of global atmospheric general circulation and chemical transport models performed coordinated perturbation experiments with 20% reductions in emissions of anthropogenic aerosols, or aerosol precursors, in a number of source regions. Here, we compare the resulting changes in the atmospheric load and vertically resolved profiles of black carbon (BC), organic aerosols (OA) and sulfate (SO4/ from 10 models that include treatment of aerosols. We use a set of temporally, horizontally and vertically resolved profiles of aerosol forcing efficiency (AFE) to estimate the impact of emission changes in six major source regions on global radiative forcing (RF) pertaining to the direct aerosol effect, finding values between. 51.9 and 210.8mW/sq m/Tg for BC, between -2.4 and -17.9mW/sq m/Tg for OA and between -3.6 and -10.3W/sq m/Tg for SO4. In most cases, the local influence dominates, but results show that mitigations in south and east Asia have substantial impacts on the radiative budget in all investigated receptor regions, especially for BC. In Russia and the Middle East, more than 80 % of the forcing for BC and OA is due to extra-regional emission reductions. Similarly, for North America, BC emissions control in east Asia is found to be more important than domestic mitigations, which is consistent with previous findings. Comparing fully resolved RF calculations to RF estimates based on vertically averaged AFE profiles allows us to quantify the importance of vertical resolution to RF estimates. We find that locally in the source regions, a 20% emission reduction strengthens the radiative forcing associated with SO4 by 25% when including the vertical dimension, as the AFE for SO4 is strongest near the surface. Conversely, the local RF from BC weakens by 37% since BC AFE is low close to the ground. The fraction of BC direct effect forcing attributable to intercontinental transport, on the other hand, is enhanced by one-third when accounting for the vertical aspect, because long-range transport primarily leads to aerosol changes at high altitudes, where the BC AFE is strong. While the surface temperature response may vary with the altitude of aerosol change, the analysis in the present study is not extended to estimates of temperature or precipitation changes.

profiles of aerosol forcing efficiency (AFE)↗

NASA NTRS2014

Sources, Sinks, and Transatlantic Transport of North African Dust Aerosol: A Multimodel Analysis and Comparison With Remote Sensing Data

This study evaluates model-simulated dust aerosols over North Africa and the North Atlantic from five global models that participated in the Aerosol Comparison between Observations and Models phase II model experiments. The model results are compared with satellite aerosol optical depth (AOD) data from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS), Multiangle Imaging Spectroradiometer (MISR), and Sea-viewing Wide Field-of-view Sensor, dust optical depth (DOD) derived from MODIS and MISR, AOD and coarse-mode AOD (as a proxy of DOD) from ground-based Aerosol Robotic Network Sun photometer measurements, and dust vertical distributions/centroid height from Cloud Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization and Atmospheric Infrared Sounder satellite AOD retrievals. We examine the following quantities of AOD and DOD: (1) the magnitudes over land and over ocean in our study domain, (2) the longitudinal gradient from the dust source region over North Africa to the western North Atlantic, (3) seasonal variations at different locations, and (4) the dust vertical profile shape and the AOD centroid height (altitude above or below which half of the AOD is located). The different satellite data show consistent features in most of these aspects; however, the models display large diversity in all of them, with significant differences among the models and between models and observations. By examining dust emission, removal, and mass extinction efficiency in the five models, we also find remarkable differences among the models that all contribute to the discrepancies of model-simulated dust amount and distribution. This study highlights the challenges in simulating the dust physical and optical processes, even in the best known dust environment, and stresses the need for observable quantities to constrain the model processes.

Africa↗

NASA NTRS2014

Impacts of Intercontinental Transport of Anthropogenic Fine Particulate Matter on Human Mortality

Fine particulate matter with diameter of 2.5 microns or less (PM2.5) is associated with premature mortality and can travel long distances, impacting air quality and health on intercontinental scales. We estimate the mortality impacts of 20 % anthropogenic primary PM2.5 and PM2.5 precursor emission reductions in each of four major industrial regions (North America, Europe, East Asia, and South Asia) using an ensemble of global chemical transport model simulations coordinated by the Task Force on Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution and epidemiologically-derived concentration-response functions. We estimate that while 93-97 % of avoided deaths from reducing emissions in all four regions occur within the source region, 3-7 % (11,500; 95 % confidence interval, 8,800-14,200) occur outside the source region from concentrations transported between continents. Approximately 17 and 13 % of global deaths avoided by reducing North America and Europe emissions occur extraregionally, owing to large downwind populations, compared with 4 and 2 % for South and East Asia. The coarse resolution global models used here may underestimate intraregional health benefits occurring on local scales, affecting these relative contributions of extraregional versus intraregional health benefits. Compared with a previous study of 20 % ozone precursor emission reductions, we find that despite greater transport efficiency for ozone, absolute mortality impacts of intercontinental PM2.5 transport are comparable or greater for neighboring source-receptor pairs, due to the stronger effect of PM2.5 on mortality. However, uncertainties in modeling and concentration-response relationships are large for both estimates.

human health↗

NASA NTRS2013

A Multimodel Assessment of the Influence of Regional Anthropogenic Emission Reductions on Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing and the Role of Intercontinental Transport

In this study, we assess changes of aerosol optical depth (AOD) and direct radiative forcing (DRF) in response to the reduction of anthropogenic emissions in four major pollution regions in the Northern Hemisphere by using results from nine global models in the framework of the Hemispheric Transport of Air Pollution (HTAP). DRF at top of atmosphere (TOA) and surface is estimated based on AOD results from the HTAP models and AOD-normalized DRF (NDRF) from a chemical transport model. The multimodel results show that, on average, a 20% reduction of anthropogenic emissions in North America, Europe, East Asia, and South Asia lowers the global mean AOD (all-sky TOA DRF) by 9.2% (9.0%), 3.5% (3.0%), and 9.4% (10.0%) for sulfate, particulate organic matter (POM), and black carbon (BC), respectively. Global annual average TOA all-sky forcing efficiency relative to particle or gaseous precursor emissions from the four regions (expressed as multimodel mean +/- one standard deviation) is -3.5 +/-0.8, -4.0 +/- 1.7, and 29.5+/-18.1mW / sq m per Tg for sulfate (relative to SO2), POM, and BC, respectively. The impacts of the regional emission reductions on AOD and DRF extend well beyond the source regions because of intercontinental transport (ICT). On an annual basis, ICT accounts for 11 +/- 5% to 31 +/- 9% of AOD and DRF in a receptor region at continental or subcontinental scale, with domestic emissions accounting for the remainder, depending on regions and species. For sulfate AOD, the largest ICT contribution of 31 +/- 9% occurs in South Asia, which is dominated by the emissions from Europe. For BC AOD, the largest ICT contribution of 28 +/- 18% occurs in North America, which is dominated by the emissions from East Asia. The large spreads among models highlight the need to improve aerosol processes in models, and evaluate and constrain models with observations.

Europe↗

NASA NTRS2012

Application of the CALIOP Layer Product to Evaluate the Vertical Distribution of Aerosols Estimated by Global Models: AeroCom Phase I Results

The CALIOP (Cloud-Aerosol Lidar with Orthogonal Polarization) layer product is used for a multimodel evaluation of the vertical distribution of aerosols. Annual and seasonal aerosol extinction profiles are analyzed over 13 sub-continental regions representative of industrial, dust, and biomass burning pollution, from CALIOP 2007-2009 observations and from AeroCom (Aerosol Comparisons between Observations and Models) 2000 simulations. An extinction mean height diagnostic (Z-alpha) is defined to quantitatively assess the models' performance. It is calculated over the 0-6 km and 0-10 km altitude ranges by weighting the altitude of each 100 m altitude layer by its aerosol extinction coefficient. The mean extinction profiles derived from CALIOP layer products provide consistent regional and seasonal specificities and a low inter-annual variability. While the outputs from most models are significantly correlated with the observed Z-alpha climatologies, some do better than others, and 2 of the 12 models perform particularly well in all seasons. Over industrial and maritime regions, most models show higher Z-alpha than observed by CALIOP, whereas over the African and Chinese dust source regions, Z-alpha is underestimated during Northern Hemisphere Spring and Summer. The positive model bias in Z-alpha is mainly due to an overestimate of the extinction above 6 km. Potential CALIOP and model limitations, and methodological factors that might contribute to the differences are discussed.

Aerosols and particles↗

NASA NTRS2012

A HTAP Multi-Model Assessment of the Influence of Regional Anthropogenic Emission Reductions on Aerosol Direct Radiative Forcing and the Role of Intercontinental Transport

Yu, Hongbin↗

NASA NTRS2011

Aerosol Comparisons Between Observations and Models: AeroCom and ABC

I will represent the AeroCom community to the Atmospheric Brown Cloud (ABC) workshop. I will summarize the activities and results from AeroCom Phase I activities in the past 8 years and introduce the new results and activities in the current AeroCom Phase II. We hope to coordinate some activities with the ABC community to share model output and data access for model evaluations, comparisons, and assessment.

Chin, Mian↗

NASA NTRS1996

The effect of Birkeland currents on magnetic field topology

A technique was developed for the inclusion of large scale magnetospheric current systems in magnetic field models. The region 1 and 2 Birkeland current systems are included in the source surface model of the terrestrial magnetosphere. The region 1 and 2 Birkeland currents are placed in the model using a series of field aligned, infinitely thin wire segments. The normal component of the magnetic field from these currents is calculated on the surface of the magnetopause and shielded using image current carrying wires placed outside of the magnetosphere. It is found that the inclusion of the Birkeland currents in the model results in a northward magnetic field in the near-midnight tail, leading to the closure of previously open flux in the tail, and a southward magnetic field in the flanks. A sunward shift in the separatrix is observed.

Peroomian, Vahe↗

NASA NTRS1995

Bounce-Averaged Hamiltonian for Charged Particles in an Axisymmetric but Nondipolar Model Magnetosphere

In order to facilitate bounce-averaged guiding center simulations of geomagnetically trapped particles, we express the kinetic energy of a particle with magnetic coordinates (L,phi) as an analytic function of the first two adiabatic invariants (M, J) and the L value of the field line. The magnetic field model is axisymmetric, consisting of a dipolar B field plus a uniform southward magnetic field parallel to the dipole moment mu(sub E). This model magnetosphere is surrounded by a circular equatorial neutral line whose radius b is an adjustable parameter. The L value of a field line is (by definition) inversely proportional to the flux enclosed by the corresponding magnetic shell of equatorial radius r(sub 0), and the L value at the neutral line (r(sub 0) = b) is denoted L*. The azimuthal coordinate phi measures magnetic local time. The best functional representation found for the normalized difference (L(exp 3)a(exp 3)/mu(sub E))(B(sub m) - B(sub 0)) between mirror-point field B(sub m) and equatorial field B(sub 0) along any field line is a 5-term expansion in powers (2/3 through 6/3) of the quantity X equivalent to (La/mu(sub E))(exp 1/2)K, where K equivalent to (J(exp 2)/8m(sub 0)M)(exp 1/2) is an adiabatically conserved quantity independent of particle energy, m(sub 0) is the rest mass of the particle, and a is the radius of the Earth. This functional form is motivated by results for limiting cases in which particles mirror very near and very far from the magnetic equator. Expansion coefficients corresponding to various powers of X are obtained from least squares fits to numerically computed results for X as a function of L and B(sub m). These are accurately expressible as fourth-order polynomials in (r(sub 0)/b)(exp 3), hence indirectly as functions of L/L* = 3La/2b. This representation, which leads (except for a manageably small region of parameter space) to better than 1% accuracy in the specification of B(sub m) as a function of K and L, allows bounce-averaged guiding center simulations to be performed without actually tracing the bounce motions of individual particles. Bounce-averaged drifts L' (meridional) and phi' (azimuthal) are proportional to derivatives of the Hamiltonian H (sum of kinetic and potential energies) with respect to phi and L, respectively. Our formulation thus provides a computationally efficient method for tracing the bounce-averaged adiabatic motion (conserving all three invariants) and nonadiabatic transport (violating the third invariant while conserving the first two invariants) of geomagnetically trapped particles in the model magnetosphere.

Schulz, Michael↗

NASA NTRS1995

Stormtime ring current and radiation belt ion transport: Simulations and interpretations

We use a dynamical guiding-center model to investigate the stormtime transport of ring current and radiation-belt ions. We trace the motion of representative ions' guiding centers in response to model substorm-associated impulses in the convection electric field for a range of ion energies. Our simple magnetospheric model allows us to compare our numerical results quantitatively with analytical descriptions of particle transport, (e.g., with the quasilinear theory of radial diffusion). We find that 10-145-keV ions gain access to L approximately 3, where they can form the stormtime ring current, mainly from outside the (trapping) region in which particles execute closed drift paths. Conversely, the transport of higher-energy ions (approximately greater than 145 keV at L approximately 3) turns out to resemble radial diffusion. The quasilinear diffusion coefficient calculated for our model storm does not vary smoothly with particle energy, since our impulses occur at specific (although randomly determined) times. Despite the spectral irregularity, quasilinear theory provides a surprisingly accurate description of the transport process for approximately greater than 145-keV ions, even for the case of an individual storm. For 4 different realizations of our model storm, the geometric mean discrepancies between diffusion coefficients D(sup sim, sub LL) obtained from the simulations and the quasilinear diffusion coefficient D(sup ql, sub LL) amount to factors of 2.3, 2.3, 1.5, and 3.0, respectively. We have found that these discrepancies between D(sup sim, sub LL) and D(sup ql, sub LL) can be reduced slightly by invoking drift-resonance broadening to smooth out the sharp minima and maxima in D(sup ql, sub LL). The mean of the remaining discrepancies between D(sup sim, sub LL) and D(sup ql, sub LL) for the 4 different storms then amount to factors of 1.9, 2.1, 1.5, and 2.7, respectively. We find even better agreement when we reduce the impulse amplitudes systematically in a given model storm (e.g., reduction of all the impulse amplitudes by half reduces the discrepancy factor by at least its square root) and also when we average our results over an ensemble of 20 model storms (agreement is within a factor of 1.2 without impulse-amplitude reduction). We use our simulation results also to map phase-space densities f in accordance with Liouville's theorem. We find that the stormtime transport of approximately greater than 145-keV ions produces little change in f-bar the drift-averaged phase-space density on any drift shell of interest. However, the stormtime transport produces a major enhancement from the pre-storm phase-space density at energies approximately 30-145 keV, which are representative of the stormtime ring current.

Lyons, Larry R.↗

NASA NTRS1995

Bounce-averaged Hamiltonian for charged particles in an axisymmetric but nondipolar model magnetosphere

Schulz, Michael↗

NASA NTRS1994

Simulations of phase space distributions of storm time proton ring current

We use results of guiding-center simulations of ion transport to map phase space densities of the stormtime proton ring current. We model a storm as a sequence of substorm-associated enhancements in the convection electric field. Our pre-storm phase space distribution is an analytical solution to a steady-state transport model in which quiet-time radial diffusion balances charge exchange. This pre-storm phase space spectra at L approximately 2 to 4 reproduce many of the features found in observed quiet-time spectra. Using results from simulations of ion transport during model storms having main phases of 3, 6, and 12 hr, we map phase space distributions from the pre-storm distribution in accordance with Liouville's theorem. We find stormtime enhancements in the phase space densities at energies E approximately 30-160 keV for L approximately 2.5 to 4. These enhancements agree well with the observed stormtime ring current. For storms with shorter main phases (approximately 3 hr), the enhancements are caused mainly by the trapping of ions injected from open night side trajectories, and diffusive transport of higher-energy (greater than or approximately 160 keV) ions contributes little to the stormtime ring current. However, the stormtime ring current is augmented also by the diffusive transport of higher-energy ions (E greater than or approximately 160 keV) durinng stroms having longer main phases (greater than or approximately 6 hr). In order to account for the increase in Dst associated with the formation of the stormtime ring current, we estimate the enhancement in particle-energy content that results from stormtime ion transport in the equatorial magnetosphere. We find that transport alone cannot account for the entire increase in absolute value of Dst typical of a major storm. However, we can account for the entire increase in absolute value of Dst by realistically increasing the stormtime outer boundary value of the phase space density relative to the quiet-time value. We compute the magnetic field produced by the ring current itself and find that radial profiles of the magnetic field depression resemble those obtained from observational data.

Chen, Margaret W.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Energy content of stormtime ring current from phase space mapping simulations

We perform a phase space mapping study to estimate the enhancement in energy content that results from stormtime particle transport in the equatorial magnetosphere. Our pre-storm phase space distribution is based on a steady-state transport model. Using results from guiding-center simulations of ion transport during model storms having main phases of 3 hr, 6 hr, and 12 hr, we map phase space distributions of ring current protons from the pre-storm distribution in accordance with Liouville's theorem. We find that transport can account for the entire ten to twenty-fold increase in magnetospheric particle energy content typical of a major storm if a realistic stormtime enhancement of the phase space density f is imposed at the nightside tail plasma sheet (represented by an enhancement of f at the neutral line in our model).

Chen, Margaret W.↗

NASA NTRS1993

Stormtime transport of ring current and radiation belt ions

This is an investigation of stormtime particle transport that leads to formation of the ring current. Our method is to trace the guiding-center motion of representative ions (having selected first adiabatic invariants mu) in response to model substorm-associated impulses in the convection electric field. We compare our simulation results qualitatively with existing analytically tractable idealizations of particle transport (direct convective access and radial diffusion) in order to assess the limits of validity of these approximations. For mu approximately less than 10 MeV/G (E approximately less than 10 keV at L equivalent to 3) the ion drift period on the final (ring-current) drift shell of interest (L equivalent to 3) exceeds the duration of the main phase of our model storm, and we find that the transport of ions to this drift shell is appropriately idealized as direct convective access, typically from open drift paths. Ion transport to a final closed drift path from an open (plasma-sheet) drift trajectory is possible for those portions of that drift path that lie outside the mean stormtime separatrix between closed and open drift trajectories, For mu approximately 10-25 MeV/G (110 keV approximately less than E approximately less than 280 keV at L equivalent to 3) the drift period at L equivalent to 3 is comparable to the postulated 3-hr duration of the storm, and the mode of transport is transitional between direct convective access and transport that resembles radial diffusion. (This particle population is transitional between the ring current and radiation belt). For mu approximately greater than 25 MeV/G (radiation-belt ions having E approximately greater than 280 keV at L equivalent to 3) the ion drift period is considerably shorter than the main phase of a typical storm, and ions gain access to the ring-current region essentially via radial diffusion. By computing the mean and mean-square cumulative changes in 1/L among (in this case) 12 representative ions equally spaced in drift time around the steady-state drift shell of interest (L equivalent to 3), we have estimated (from both our forward and our time-reversed simulations) the time-integrated radial-diffusion coefficients D(sup sim)(sub LL) for particles having selected values of mu approximately greater than 15 MeV/G. The results agree surprisingly well with the predictions (D(sup ql)(sub LL)) of quasilinear radial diffusion theory, despite the rather brief duration (approximately 3 hrs) of our model storm and despite the extreme variability (with frequency) of the spectral-density function that characterizes the applied electric field during our model storm. As expected, the values of D(sup sim)(sub LL) deduced (respectively) from our forward and time-reversed simulations agree even better with each other and with D(sup sim)(sub LL) when the impulse amplitudes which characterize the individual substorms of our model storm are systematically reduced.

Chen, Margaret W.↗