Speaker Institution : NASA GSFC and Dept. of Physics and Astronomy, Dartmouth College
Title : The Little Mission that could: BARREL observations of a solar storm
Abstract : The Balloon Array for Radiation belt Relativistic Electron Losses (BARREL) mission of opportunity working in tandem with the Van Allen Probes was designed to study the loss of radiation belt electrons to the upper atmosphere. However BARREL is able to see X-rays from a multitude of sources. During the second campaign, the Sun produced, and BARREL observed, an X-class flare. This was followed by observations of X-rays, gamma-rays, and directly injected protons from the solar energetic particle event associated with the eruption from the Sun. Two days later the shock generated by the interplanetary coronal mass ejection (ICME-shock) hit the Earth while BARREL was in an amazing conjunction with the Van Allen Probes. We here at Earth only received a glancing blow of the iCME-shock and thus did not produce a large geomagnetic storm, but the compression led to the formation of ultra low frequency (ULF) waves, electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves, and very low frequency (VLF) whistler mode waves. The combination of these waves and the enhancement of the local particle population led to precipitation of electrons remotely observed by BARREL. Others have gone on to study the effects of this CME at Mars as the red planet was directly in the path of this CME. Although we do not discuss this here, a storm like this would have large implications for a manned mission to Mars.