Relativistic electron precipitation enhancements near the outer edge of the radiation belt

Characteristics of relativistic electron precipitation bursts observed by the Heavy Ion Large Telescope (HILT) experiment onboard the Solar, Anomalous, and Magnetospheric Partical Explorer (SAMPEX) satellite were examined. Relatively narrow, persitent, latitudinal bands of precipitation with time scales of 10 to approximately 30 sec near the outer edge of the radiation belt which develop and decay with a time scale of a few hours are reported. Acceleration processes more effective than the usual radial diffusion process or scattering process would be needed to explain this strong precipitation band phenomenon. Another prominent signature is microbursts with a time scale down to a few hundred milliseconds. It is suggested that these microbursts are due to wave-particle interaction involving a relaxation-oscillator type of mechanism.