Longitudinal Dependence of Whistler Mode Electromagnetic Waves in the Earth's Inner Magnetosphere

We use the measurements performed by the DEMETER (2004–010) and the Van Allen Probes (2012–016, still operating) spacecraft to investigate the longitudinal dependence of the intensity of whistler mode waves in the Earth's inner magnetosphere. We show that a significant longitudinal dependence i...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of geophysical research. Space physics 2018-08, Vol.123 (8), p.6562-6575
Main Authors: Záhlava, J., Němec, F., Santolík, O., Kolmašova, I., Hospodarsky, G. B., Parrot, M., Kurth, W. S., Bortnik, J., Kletzing, C.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Attenuation
DEMETER
Dependence
Earth magnetosphere
Earth Sciences
Electromagnetic radiation
Geophysics
Lightning
Magnetism
Magnetosphere
Physics
Plasmasphere
Sciences of the Universe
Space Physics
Spacecraft
Van Allen Probes
whistler waves
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Summary:We use the measurements performed by the DEMETER (2004–010) and the Van Allen Probes (2012–016, still operating) spacecraft to investigate the longitudinal dependence of the intensity of whistler mode waves in the Earth's inner magnetosphere. We show that a significant longitudinal dependence is observed inside the plasmasphere on the nightside, primarily in the frequency range 400 Hz to 2 kHz. On the other hand, almost no longitudinal dependence is observed on the dayside. The obtained results are compared to the lightning occurrence rate provided by the Optical Transient Detector/Lightning Imaging Sensor mission normalized by a factor accounting for the ionospheric attenuation. The agreement between the two dependencies indicates that lightning‐generated electromagnetic waves may be responsible for of the observed effect, thus substantially affecting the overall wave intensity in the given frequency range. Finally, we show that the longitudinal dependence is most pronounced for waves with oblique wave of normal angles. Key Points Longitudinal dependence of whistler mode waves in the inner magnetosphere is investigated Significant longitudinal dependence at frequencies between about 0.4 and 2 kHz is found inside the plasmasphere The dependence is primarily observed on the nightside and is likely related to lightning activity
ISSN:2169-9380
2169-9402
DOI:10.1029/2018JA025284