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/Nature/ *432*, 878-881 (16 December 2004) | doi:10.1038/nature03116;
Received 6 July 2004; Accepted 12 October 2004


    An extreme distortion of the Van Allen belt arising from the
    'Hallowe'en' solar storm in 2003

D. N. Baker^1 <#a1> , S. G. Kanekal^1 <#a1> , X. Li^1 <#a1> , S. P.
Monk^1 <#a1> , J. Goldstein^2 <#a2> & J. L. Burch^2 <#a2>

   1. Laboratory for Atmospheric and Space Physics, University of
      Colorado, 1234 Innovation Drive, Boulder, Colorado 80303-7814, USA
   2. Southwest Research Institute, PO Drawer 28510, San Antonio, Texas
      78284, USA 

Correspondence to: D. N. Baker^1 <#a1>
Email: daniel.baker@lasp.colorado.edu
<mailto:daniel.baker@lasp.colorado.edu>

Top of page <#top>

The Earth's radiation belts?also known as the Van Allen belts^1 contain
high-energy electrons trapped on magnetic field lines^2, ^3 . The centre
of the outer belt is usually 20,000?25,000 km from Earth. The region
between the belts is normally devoid of particles^2, ^3, ^4 , and is
accordingly favoured as a location for spacecraft operation because of the
benign environment^5 . Here we report that the outer Van Allen belt was
compressed dramatically by a solar storm known as the 'Hallowe'en storm'
of 2003. From 1 to 10 November, the outer belt had its centre only approx
10,000 km from Earth's equatorial surface, and the plasmasphere was
similarly displaced inwards. The region between the belts became the
location of high particle radiation intensity. This remarkable deformation
of the entire magnetosphere implies surprisingly powerful acceleration and
loss processes deep within the magnetosphere.

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