Morphology of the spectral resonance structure of the electromagnetic background noise in the range of 0.1?4 Hz at <i>L</I> = 5.2

International audienceContinuous observations of fluctuations of the geomagnetic field at Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (L = 5.2) were used for a comprehensive morphological study of the spectral resonance structure (SRS) seen in the background electromagnetic noise in the frequency range of 0.1?4.0 Hz. It is shown that the occurrence rate of SRS is higher in the nighttime than in the daytime. The occurrence rate is higher in winter than in summer. The SRS frequencies and the difference between neighbouring eigenfrequencies (the frequency scale) increase towards nighttime and decrease towards daytime. Both frequency scale and occurrence rate exhibit a clear tendency to decrease from minimum to maximum of the solar activity cycle. It is found that the occurrence rate of SRS decreases when geomagnetic activity increases. The SRS is believed to be a consequence of a resonator for Alfvén waves, which is suggested to exist in the upper ionosphere. According to the theory of the ionospheric Alfvén resonator (IAR), characteristics of SRS crucially depend on electron density in the F-layer maximum, as well as on the altitudinal scale of the density decay above the maximum.We compared the SRS morphological properties with predictions of the IAR theory. The ionospheric parameters needed for calculation were obtained from the ionosphere model (IRI-95), as well as from measurements made with the ionosonde in Sodankylä. We conclude that, indeed, the main morphological properties of SRS are explained on the basis of the IAR theory. The measured parameters of SRS can be used for improving the ionospheric models

Proton isotropy boundaries as measured on mid- and low-altitude satellites

Polar CAMMICE MICS proton pitch angle distributions with energies of 31-80 keV were analyzed to determine the locations where anisotropic pitch angle distributions (perpendicular flux dominating) change to isotropic distributions. We compared the positions of these mid-altitude isotropic distribution boundaries (IDB) for different activity conditions with low-altitude isotropic boundaries (IB) observed by NOAA&amp;nbsp;12. Although the obtained statistical properties of IDBs were quite similar to those of IBs, a small difference in latitudes, most pronounced on the nightside and dayside, was found. We selected several events during which simultaneous observations in the same local time sector were available from Polar at mid-altitudes, and NOAA or DMSP at low-altitudes. Magnetic field mapping using the Tsyganenko T01 model with the observed solar wind input parameters showed that the low- and mid-altitude isotropization boundaries were closely located, which leads us to suggest that the Polar IDB and low-altitude IBs are related. Furthermore, we introduced a procedure to control the difference between the observed and model magnetic field to reduce the large scatter in the mapping. We showed that the isotropic distribution boundary (IDB) lies in the region where &lt;i&gt;R&lt;sub&gt;c&lt;/sub&gt;&lt;/i&gt;/&amp;rho;~6, that is at the boundary of the region where the non-adiabatic pitch angle scattering is strong enough. We therefore conclude that the scattering in the large field line curvature regions in the nightside current sheet is the main mechanism producing isotropization for the main portion of proton population in the tail current sheet. This mechanism controls the observed positions of both IB and IDB boundaries. Thus, this tail region can be probed, in its turn, with observations of these isotropy boundaries.&lt;p&gt; &lt;b&gt;Keywords.&lt;/b&gt; Magnetospheric physics (Energetic particles, Precipitating; Magnetospheric configuration and dynamics; Magnetotail

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

The relationship between auroral hiss at high altitudes over the polar caps and the substorm dynamics of aurora

Strong variations of intensity and cutoff frequency of the auroral hiss were observed by INTERBALL-2 and POLAR satellites at high altitudes, poleward from the auroral oval. The hiss intensifications are correlated with the auroral activations during substorms and/or pseudo-breakups. The low cutoff frequency of auroral hiss increases with the distance between the aurora and the satellite footprint. Multicomponent wave measurements of the hiss emissions on board the POLAR spacecraft show that the horizontal component of the Poynting flux of auroral hiss changes its direction in good accordance with longitudinal displacements of the bright auroras. The vertical component of the Poynting flux is directed upward from the aurora region, indicating that hiss could be generated by upgoing electron beams. This relationship between hiss and the aurora dynamics means that the upgoing electron beams are closely related to downgoing electron beams which produce the aurora. During the auroral activations the upgoing and downgoing beams move and change their intensities simultaneously.&lt;br&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;b&gt;Keywords.&lt;/b&gt; Magnetospheric physics (Auroral phenomena; Plasma waves and instabilities; Storms and substorms