%0 Journal Article
%T Characteristics of flux-time profiles, temporal evolution, and spatial distribution of radiation-belt electron precipitation bursts in the upper ionosphere before great and giant earthquakes
%A Georgios C. Anagnostopoulos
%A Efthymios Vassiliadis
%A Sergey Pulinets
%J Annals of Geophysics
%D 2012
%I Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV)
%R 10.4401/ag-5365
%X The analysis of energetic electron observations made by the DEMETER satellite reveals that radiation belt electron precipitation (RBEP) bursts are observed in general several (~1-6 days) before a large (M > 6.5) earthquake (EQ) in the presence of broad band (~1-20 kHz) VLF waves. The EBs show in general a relative peak-to-background flux increase usually < 100, they have a time duration of ~0.5 ¨C 3 min, and their energy spectrum reach up to energies <~500 keV. The RBEP activity is observed as one, two or three EBs throughout a semi-orbit, depended on the magnetic field structure above the EQ epicenter. A statistical analysis has been made for earthquakes in Japan, which reveals a standard temporal variation of the number of EBs, which begins with an incremental rate several days before major earthquakes, and after a maximum, decreases so that the electron precipitation ceases above the epicenter. Some earthquake induced EBs were observed not only in the nightside ionosphere, but also in the dayside ionosphere.
%K Earthquake precursors
%K particle precipitation
%K wave particle interactions
%U http://www.annalsofgeophysics.eu/index.php/annals/article/view/5365