Research topics of the section

Earth’s radiation belts consist of highly energetic protons and electrons trapped by Earth’s magnetic field. To understand the dynamic evolution of outer radiation belt, physics-based 3D and 4D Versatile Electron Radiation Belt (VERB) codes are developed by our group.

Analysis of radiation belt observations present a major challenge. Satellite observations are often incomplete and inaccurate and have only limited spatial coverage. Nevertheless, through data assimilation they can be blended with information from physics-based models.

We draw on ML methods to develop predictive models of electron density in the plasmasphere and the Kp index. We integrate then integrate these models into the Versatile Electron Radiation Belt (VERB) Code we have developed, which provide more accurate prediction of the radiation belt state.

The ring current is an electric current encircling the Earth at the distances between ~3 and ~5 Earth’s radii from the center of the Earth in the equatorial plane. We use the four-dimensional Versatile Electron Radiation Belt (VERB-4D) code to model the dynamics of the ring current.