A multi-spacecraft synthesis of relativistic electrons in the inner magnetosphere using LANL, GOES, GPS, SAMPEX, HEO and POLAR

One of the Brussels Radiation Belt Workshop recommendation was the establis hment of a near-real-time data driven model of the inner magnetospheric ene rgetic particle population (L < 8). Although the "ideal" missions and data sets for such a model do not exist at present, more spacecraft than ever be fore are currently sampling the inner magnetosphere. We attempt here in a c ase study of the 10 January, 1997 magnetic cloud event to construct such a model with the energetic electron data available from 5 geosynchronous and 6 elliptically orbiting satellites. We examine the constraints and difficul ties of putting together a large number of datasets which are measured near -simultaneously at very different locations in the inner magnetosphere. Fir st results indicate that we can achieve a time resolution of about 3 h for a given "snapshot" of the inner magnetosphere, and that large azimuthal asy mmetries of the energetic electron population can be observed during large storms. (C) 1999 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.