Radio sounding from IMAGE: New perspectives on field aligned density irregularities, Z and whistler mode diagnostics, and proton cyclotron harmonic echoes

Author

Carpenter, D.L. ; Bell, T.F. ; Sonwalkar, V.S.

Author_Institution

Dept. of Electr. Eng., Stanford Univ., Stanford, CA, USA

fYear

2011

fDate

13-20 Aug. 2011

Firstpage

1

Lastpage

1

Abstract

The operating frequency of the Radio Plasma Imager (RPI) instrument on the IMAGE satellite extended from 3 kHz to 3 MHz. This wide range made possible free-space O and X mode sounding from altitudes on both sides of the plasmasphere boundary layer (PBL) while also making possible wave injection in the whistler-mode and Z-mode domains at altitudes less than ≈ 10,000 km. We briefly review new findings in four areas: (i) density irregularities in the PBL and within the plasmasphere; (ii) upward Z-mode probing along geomagnetic field lines from within a Z-mode propagation `cavity´ (iii) downward probing from 4500-7000 km altitude using whistler-mode waves that undergo two fundamentally different types of reflection; (iv) strong coupling of RPI pulses to the local proton plasma

Keywords

magnetosphere; plasma boundary layers; plasma density; plasma diagnostics; whistlers; IMAGE satellite; Z mode diagnostics; Z-mode propagation cavity; field aligned density irregularities; free-space O mode; free-space X mode; geomagnetic field lines; local proton plasma; plasmasphere boundary layer; proton cyclotron harmonic echoes; radio plasma imager instrument; radio sounding method; whistler mode diagnostics; Cyclotrons; Economic indicators; Ionosphere; Plasmas; Protons; Resonant frequency; Satellites;

fLanguage

English

Publisher

ieee

Conference_Titel

General Assembly and Scientific Symposium, 2011 XXXth URSI

Conference_Location

Istanbul

Print_ISBN

978-1-4244-5117-3

Type

conf

DOI

10.1109/URSIGASS.2011.6051105

Filename

6051105