Excitation of EMIC waves detected by the Van Allen Probes on 28 April 2013

Author

Zhang, Jin-Cheng ; Saikin, A.A. ; Kistler, L.M. ; Smith, C.W. ; Spence, H.E. ; Torbert, R.B. ; Larsen, B.A. ; Reeves, G. ; Skoug, R. ; Funsten, H. ; Kurth, W.S. ; Kletzing, Craig A.

Author_Institution

Space Sci. Center, Univ. of New Hampshire, Durham, NH, USA

fYear

2014

fDate

16-23 Aug. 2014

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

1

Abstract

We report the wave observations, associated plasma measurements, and linear theory testing of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves observed by the Van Allen Probes on 28 April 2013. The waves are detected in their generation regions as three individual events in the two consecutive orbits of the Van Allen Probes-A, but the other spacecraft, B, does not detect any significant EMIC wave activity during the period. Present are three overlapping H⁺ populations around the plasmapause during the waves. It is found that the difference between the observational EMIC wave growth parameter (Σ_h) and the theoretical EMIC instability threshold (S_h) is significantly raised, on average, to 0.32±0.03, 0.43±0.02, and 0.32±0.02 during the three waves, respectively. Compared to linear theory (Σ_h > S_h), they are elevated thresholds for EMIC wave excitation.

Keywords

magnetopause; magnetospheric electromagnetic wave propagation; radiation belts; AD 2013 04 28; EMIC instability threshold; EMIC wave activity; EMIC wave excitation; Van Allen Probes; associated plasma measurements; electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves; linear theory testing; overlapping H⁺ populations; plasmapause; wave generation regions; wave observations; Astronomy; Educational institutions; Electronic mail; Laboratories; Physics; Probes; Space vehicles;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

General Assembly and Scientific Symposium (URSI GASS), 2014 XXXIth URSI

Conference_Location

Beijing

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/URSIGASS.2014.6929886

Filename

6929886