BANDED ELECTRON-STRUCTURE FORMATION IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE

Banded electron structures in energy-time spectrograms have been obser ved in the inner magnetosphere concurrent with a sudden relaxation of geomagnetic activity. In this study, the formation of these banded str uctures is considered with a global, bounce-averaged model of electron transport, and it is concluded that this structure is a natural occur rence when plasma sheet electrons are captured on closed drift paths n ear the Earth followed by an extended period of quiet time for more th an a day. These bands do not appear unless there is capture of plasma sheet electrons; convection along open drift paths making one pass aro und the Earth do not have time to develop this feature. The separation of high-energy bands from the injected population due to the preferen tial advection of the gradient-curvature drift creates spikes in the e nergy distribution above a keV, which overlap to form a series of band s in energy. The lowest band is the bulk of the injected population in the sub-keV energy range. Using the Kp history for an observed banded structure event, a cloud of plasma sheet electrons is captured and th e formation of their distribution function is examined.