Improved Lifetime Model of Energetic Electrons Due to Their Interactions With Chorus Waves.

Chorus waves induce both electron acceleration and loss. In this letter, we provide significantly improved models of electron lifetime due to interactions with chorus waves. The new models fill the gap that previous models have on some magnetic local time (MLT) sectors of the Earth's magnetosphere. This improvement is critical for modeling studies. The lifetime models developed using two different methods are valid for electrons with an energy range from 1 keV to 2 MeV. To facilitate the integration of these new models into different ring current and radiation belt codes, we parameterize the electron lifetime as a function of L $L$‐shell and electron kinetic energy at each MLT and geomagnetic activity (Kp). The parameterized electron lifetimes exhibit strong dependencies on L $L$‐shell, MLT, and energy. Simulations using these new models demonstrate improved agreement with satellite observations compared to simulations using previous models, advancing our understanding of electron dynamics in the magnetosphere. Plain Language Summary: There are a large number of energetic electrons trapped by our Earth's magnetic field in the near‐Earth space. The regions populated by these high energy electrons are called ring current and radiation belts. It is important to understand the dynamics of the energetic electrons because they can be dangerous to satellites and astronauts flying through these regions. Electromagnetic waves in these regions play an important role in the dynamic of ring current and radiation belt electrons. Among these waves, whistler mode chorus wave is an important wave that can cause both acceleration and loss of the energetic electrons. In our previous studies, we calculated diffusion coefficients to quantify the effect of chorus waves on the energetic electrons. Based on these diffusion coefficients, in this study, we estimate the lifetime of energetic electrons due to their interactions with chorus waves. To make this lifetime model more convenient to be used in different ring current and radiation belt models, we apply polynomial fits to the calculated lifetime. Our new lifetime model is more advanced than previous models, especially in the space coverage. We test the new models in simulations and the results agree better with satellite observations than the previous models do. Key Points: The new lifetime model provides extended space coverage in comparison to current widely used lifetime modelsSuch parameterized lifetimes are very significant for simulations of the dynamics of radiation belt and ring current electronsUsing the new electron lifetime model in simulations improves the agreement between the simulation results and the satellite observations [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]