Solar Magnetic Configuration Control over Radiation Belt Electrons
Abstract
Earth is surrounded by two highly dynamic concentric belts of particle radiation. The outer radiation belt exhibits coherent variability at solar-cycle, seasonal, and 27-day (Carrington) timescales. While the solar-cycle and Carrington variations have been attributed to the recurrence of coronal hole solar wind, the seasonal variation has long been explained by local geometric effects that modulate the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling. Here, we challenge this paradigm by showing that the periodic recurrence of coronal hole solar wind likewise drives the seasonal variation. We further demonstrate that the Alfvénic nature of this solar wind is responsible for the observed electron flux enhancement in the outer radiation belt. These findings provide a unifying framework linking solar magnetic topology, solar wind properties, and magnetospheric dynamics across multiple timescales at Earth and beyond.
Related
- Linear Polarization of Synchrotron Radiation from Very-small-pitch-angle Electrons
- Energetic Nonthermal Electrons within the Above-the-looptop Regions in Solar Flares: Acceleration, Feedback, and Quasi-Periodic Pulsations
- Beam-driven Evaporation in 2.5D Flare Simulations with an Asymmetric Magnetic Field Configuration
- Radiation damage to the Hubble Space Telescope has been several years out of phase with the Solar cycle
- Solar wind interaction with the Martian magnetosphere under a radial interplanetary magnetic field black in the subsolar region
BibTeX
@misc{lalti2026solar,
title = {{Solar Magnetic Configuration Control over Radiation Belt Electrons}},
author = {Ahmad Lalti and Jonathan Rae and Clare Watt and Stephanie Yardley and Savvas Raptis},
howpublished = {arXiv},
year = {2026},
month = aug,
doi = {10.48550/arxiv.2608.28309},
eprint = {2608.28309},
archivePrefix = {arXiv},
url = {https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28309},
note = {CC BY 4.0},
}
RIS
TY - UNPB
TI - Solar Magnetic Configuration Control over Radiation Belt Electrons
AU - Ahmad Lalti
AU - Jonathan Rae
AU - Clare Watt
AU - Stephanie Yardley
AU - Savvas Raptis
PY - 2026
DA - 2026/08/28
PB - arXiv
DO - 10.48550/arxiv.2608.28309
UR - https://arxiv.org/abs/2608.28309
AB - Earth is surrounded by two highly dynamic concentric belts of particle radiation. The outer radiation belt exhibits coherent variability at solar-cycle, seasonal, and 27-day (Carrington) timescales. While the solar-cycle and Carrington variations have been attributed to the recurrence of coronal hole solar wind, the seasonal variation has long been explained by local geometric effects that modulate the solar wind-magnetosphere coupling. Here, we challenge this paradigm by showing that the periodic recurrence of coronal hole solar wind likewise drives the seasonal variation. We further demonstrate that the Alfvénic nature of this solar wind is responsible for the observed electron flux enhancement in the outer radiation belt. These findings provide a unifying framework linking solar magnetic topology, solar wind properties, and magnetospheric dynamics across multiple timescales at Earth and beyond.
ER -