Frequencies of wave packets of whistler-mode chorus inside its source region: a case study

Whistler-mode chorus is a structured wave emission observed in the Earth's magnetosphere in a frequency range from a few hundreds of Hz to several kHz. We investigate wave packets of chorus using high-resolution measurements recorded by the WBD instrument on board the four Cluster spacecraft. A night-side chorus event observed during geomagnetically disturbed conditions is analyzed. We identify lower and upper frequencies for a large number of individual chorus wave packets inside the chorus source region. We investigate how these observations are related to the central position of the chorus source which has been previously estimated from the Poynting flux measurements. We observe typical frequency bandwidths of chorus of approximately 10% of the local electron cyclotron frequency. Observed time scales are around 0.1 s for the individual wave packets. Our results indicate a lower occurrence probability for lower frequencies in the vicinity of the central position of the source compared to measurements recorded closer to the outer boundaries of the source. This is in agreement with recent research based on the backward wave oscillator theory

Energetic particle counterparts for geomagnetic pulsations of Pc1 and IPDP types

International audienceUsing the low-altitude NOAA satellite particle data, we study two kinds of localised variations of energetic proton fluxes at low altitude within the anisotropic zone equatorward of the isotropy boundary. These flux variation types have a common feature, i.e. the presence of precipitating protons measured by the MEPED instrument at energies more than 30 keV, but they are distinguished by the fact of the presence or absence of the lower-energy component as measured by the TED detector on board the NOAA satellite. The localised proton precipitating without a low-energy component occurs mostly in the morning-day sector, during quiet geomagnetic conditions, without substorm injections at geosynchronous orbit, and without any signatures of plasmaspheric plasma expansion to the geosynchronous distance. This precipitation pattern closely correlates with ground-based observations of continuous narrow-band Pc1 pulsations in the frequency range 0.1?2 Hz (hereafter Pc1). The precipitation pattern containing the low energy component occurs mostly in the evening sector, under disturbed geomagnetic conditions, and in association with energetic proton injections and significant increases of cold plasma density at geosynchronous orbit. This precipitation pattern is associated with geomagnetic pulsations called Intervals of Pulsations with Diminishing Periods (IPDP), but some minor part of the events is also related to narrow-band Pc1. Both Pc1 and IPDP pulsations are believed to be the electromagnetic ion-cyclotron waves generated by the ion-cyclotron instability in the equatorial plane. These waves scatter energetic protons in pitch angles, so we conclude that the precipitation patterns studied here are the particle counterparts of the ion-cyclotron waves

Observations of the relationship between frequency sweep rates of chorus wave packets and plasma density

International audience[1] Chorus emissions are generated by a nonlinear mechanism involving wave‐particle interactions with energetic electrons. Discrete chorus wave packets are narrowband tones usually rising (sometimes falling) in frequency. We investigate frequency sweep rates of chorus wave packets measured by the Wideband data (WBD) instrument onboard the Cluster spacecraft. In particular, we study the relationship between the sweep rates and the plasma density measured by the WHISPER active sounder. We have observed increasing values of the sweep rate for decreasing plasma densities. We have compared our results with results of simulations of triggered emissions as well as with estimates based on the backward wave oscillator model for chorus emissions. We demonstrate a reasonable agreement of our experimental results with theoretical ones. Citation: Macúšová, E., et al. (2010), Observations of the relationship between frequency sweep rates of chorus wave packets and plasma density

Fast transport of resonant electrons in phase space due to nonlinear trapping by whistler waves

International audienceWe present an analytical, simplified formulation accounting for the fast transport of relativistic electrons in phase space due to wave-particle resonant interactions in the inhomogeneous magnetic field of Earth's radiation belts. We show that the usual description of the evolution of the particle velocity distribution based on the Fokker-Planck equation can be modified to incorporate nonlinear processes of wave-particle interaction, including particle trapping. Such a modification consists in one additional operator describing fast particle jumps in phase space. The proposed, general approach is used to describe the acceleration of relativistic electrons by oblique whistler waves in the radiation belts. We demonstrate that for a wave power distribution with a hard enough power law tail inline image such that η < 5/2, the efficiency of nonlinear acceleration could be more effective than the conventional quasi-linear acceleration for 100 keV electrons