Analysis of fine ELF wave structures observed poleward from the ionospheric trough by the low-altitude satellite DEMETER

International audienceDEMETER was a three-axis stabilized Earth-pointing spacecraft launched on 29 June 2004 into a low-altitude (710 km) polar and circular orbit that was subsequently lowered to 650 km until the end of the mission in December 2010. DEMETER measured electromagnetic waves all around the Earth except at magnetic invariant latitudes >65°. The frequency range for the electric field was from DC up to 3.5 MHz and for the magnetic field from a few hertz up to 20 kHz. Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves have been previously observed by DEMETER close to the ionospheric trough during high magnetic activity, and this paper describes another type of EMIC waves. These waves are also observed close to the trough, but they extend poleward, with the trough acting as a boundary. They are observed exclusively during the night and preferentially during geomagnetic substorms. The analysis of wave propagation shows that they propagate nearly along the ambient magnetic field and that they come from larger radial distances

Shapes of magnetically controlled electron density structures in the dayside Martian ionosphere

Nonhorizontal localized electron density structures associated with regions of near‐radial crustal magnetic fields are routinely detected via radar oblique echoes on the dayside of Mars with the ionospheric sounding mode of the Mars Advanced Radar for Subsurface and Ionospheric Sounding (MARSIS) radar onboard Mars Express. Previous studies mostly investigated these structures at a fixed plasma frequency and assumed that the larger apparent altitude of the structures compared to the normal surrounding ionosphere implied that they are bulges. However, the signal is subjected to dispersion when it propagates through the plasma, so interpretations based on the apparent altitude should be treated with caution. We go further by investigating the frequency dependence (i.e., the altitude dependence) of the shape of 48 density structure events, using time series of MARSIS electron density profiles corrected for signal dispersion. Four possible simplest shapes are detected in these time series, which can give oblique echoes: bulges, dips, downhill slopes, and uphill slopes. The altitude differences between the density structures and their edges are, in absolute value, larger at low frequency (high altitude) than at high frequency (low altitude), going from a few tens of kilometers to a few kilometers as frequency increases. Bulges dominate in numbers in most of the frequency range. Finally, the geographical extension of the density structures covers a wide range of crustal magnetic fields orientations, with near‐vertical fields toward their center and near‐horizontal fields toward their edges, as expected. Transport processes are suggested to be a key driver for these density structures

Chorus and chorus-like emissions seen by the ionospheric satellite DEMETER

International audienceA lot of different emissions have been detected by the low-altitude satellite DEMETER (Detection of ElectroMagnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions), and the aim of this paper is to study extremely low frequency (ELF) electromagnetic waves with elements drifting in frequency. It is shown that only some of them can be considered as usual chorus. These chorus elements are emitted in the equatorial plane, and their propagation analysis indicates that they are going downward at low altitudes in the ionosphere to be detected by the satellite. The study of one remarkable event recorded along the same orbit in both the Northern and the Southern Hemispheres on 8 May 2008 indicates that this propagation mechanism is reinforced at the location of the ionospheric trough, which corresponds to the plasmapause at higher altitudes. It has been observed that usual chorus elements at low frequencies are always in a frequency band which overlaps with a hiss band limited by a frequency cutoff close to the proton gyrofrequency. Other drifting elements can be attributed to emissions triggered by PLHR (power line harmonic radiation). It means that without a high-resolution spectral analysis, chorus-like elements triggered by PLHR can be wrongly considered as natural chorus. These drifting elements can also appear as filamentary structures emerging at the upper frequencies of a hiss band or quasiperiodic emissions. There are events where the elements even have certain similarities to quasiperiodic emissions. The difference between these elements and the chorus emissions will be emphasized

Seismic influence on the VLF transmitter signal intensity measured by the low-altitude satellite DEMETER

We present results of a statistical study of a possible influence of the seismic activity on the intensity of very low frequency (VLF) transmitter signals observed by a low-altitude satellite. Electric field measurements performed by the Detection of Electro-Magnetic Emissions Transmitted from Earthquake Regions (DEMETER) satellite during its entire mission spanning almost 6.5 years were used. Among various VLF transmitter signals detected, we focused particularly on the NWC and JJI transmitters, because of their favorable locations close to seismically active areas. We evaluate the intensities of the detected transmitter signals at the times when they passed in the vicinity of an imminent earthquake during the propagation in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide, and we statistically compare them with the intensities measured at the times when there was no earthquake present. Only earthquakes with magnitudes larger than or equal to 5 and depths shallower than or equal to 40 km were considered in the analysis. Moreover, due to the low intensity of detected transmitter signals during the day, the analysis is limited exclusively to the nightside. Although the amount of relevant data is rather low, the obtained results show that there is a decrease of the detected intensity shortly (0–3 hours) after the times of the main shocks observed both for the NWC and JJI transmitter signals. The effect is spatially rather limited, observed when the signal passes within about 4 degrees from the earthquake epicenter. The intensity decrease appears to be consistent with acoustic-gravity waves propagating from the earthquake region and influencing the bottom of the ionosphere

Statistical analysis of VLF radio emissions triggered by power line harmonic radiation and observed by the low-altitude satellite DEMETER

International audienceDEMETER was a low-altitude satellite in operation between 2004 and 2010 in a circular polar orbit. One of its main scientific objectives was to study ionospheric perturbations related to man-made activity. This paper investigates electromagnetic emissions triggered by Power Line Harmonic Radiation (PLHR), the man-made waves emitted at harmonics of 50 or 60 Hz. They look like rising tones or hooks with a starting frequency associated to a parent line with the frequency equal to a multiple of 50 or 60 Hz. They occur preferentially during daytime in a frequency band between 1 and 4 kHz. It is shown that these emissions are rather frequent at high latitudes (3 < L <6) above industrialized areas during periods of moderate magnetic activity. Their average intensity is of the order of 10 μV 2 m À2 Hz À1. PLHR propagates in the magnetosphere and triggers emissions due to wave-particle interactions in the equatorial region

Preparation, properties and application of sapphire single-crystal fibers grown by the EFG method

Sapphire – the single crystal of aluminum oxide (Al2O3) – is one of the most important artificially produced materials. The sapphire fibres studied were grown in Crytur using the “edge-defined film-fed growth” (EFG) technique. Their unique physical and chemical properties can be employed in various applications. Due to their high refractive index and a broad transmission band spanning the ultraviolet, visible and infrared bands, sapphire fibres are perfect waveguides in harsh environments. The current major applications are Er:YAG laser beam delivery and pyrometric and spectrometric measurements in furnaces, combustion engines, etc. In this paper we summarize an adjustment of the EFG method to grow thin filaments by giving possible molybdenum die designs. We investigated the fibres using an optical microscope and measured their transmission of an Er:YAG laser beam (2.94 μm). The attenuation of the tested samples is approximately 0.1 dB/cm