Trapping waves in Earth's plasmasphere

Abstract

Earth's magnetic field traps donut‐shaped bands of radiation in a belt around the planet that react to solar eruptions by growing and shrinking. The Van Allen belts consist of two rings filled with particles from the solar wind and cosmic rays. Within the outer ring of the Van Allen belt sits the plasmasphere, which is the innermost part of the planet's magnetic field and home to low‐energy charged particles.