A statistical study of EMIC waves observed by Cluster: 1. Wave properties

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves are an important mechanism for particle energization and losses inside the magnetosphere. In order to better understand the effects of these waves on particle dynamics, detailed information about the ellipticity, normal angle, energy propagation angle distributions, and local plasma parameters are required. Previous statistical studies have used in situ observations to investigate the distribution of these parameters in the L-MLT frame within a limited MLAT range. In this study, we present a statistical analysis of EMIC wave properties using ten years (2001-2010) of data from Cluster, totaling 17,987 minutes of wave activity. Due to the polar orbit of Cluster, we are able to investigate EMIC waves at all MLATs and MLTs. This allows us to further investigate the MLAT dependence of various wave properties inside different MLT sectors and further explore the effects of Shabansky orbits on EMIC wave generation and propagation. The current paper focuses on the wave occurrence distribution as well as the distribution of wave properties.