Storms in the Inner Magnetosphere

Abstract

The inner magnetosphere containing the plasmasphere, ring current and radiation belts is a key domain of magnetospheric storms from both physical and practical viewpoints. The growth, decay and asymmetries of the ring current are considered as main indicators of the large-scale storm evolution and the electron belts respond strongly to the storm evolution leading to the most hazardous conditions for spacecraft in orbit. The outer electron belt reaches beyond the geostationary orbit, which contains the largest number of satellites. The growing importance of global navigation satellite systems also brings the even more hazardous conditions deeper inside the electron belt (L ≃ 4) into focus.