Auroral chorus

About: Auroral chorus is a research topic. Over the lifetime, 204 publications have been published within this topic receiving 10448 citations.

Postmidnight chorus: A substorm phenomenon

Abstract: The ELF emissions were detected in the midnight sector of the magnetosphere in conjunction with magnetospheric substorms. The emissions were observed at local midnight and early morning hours and are accordingly called 'post-midnight chorus.' The characteristics of these emissions such as their frequency time structure, emission frequency with respect to the local equatorial electron gyrofrequency, intensity-time variation, and the average intensity were investigated. The occurrence of the chorus in the nightside magnetosphere was investigated as a function of local time, L shell, magnetic latitude, and substorm activity, and the results of this analysis are presented. Specific features of postmidnight chorus are discussed in the context of possible wave-particle interactions occurring during magnetospheric substorms.

Timescale for radiation belt electron acceleration by whistler mode chorus waves

Abstract: [1] Electron acceleration inside the Earth's magnetosphere is required to explain increases in the ∼MeV radiation belt electron flux during magnetically disturbed periods. Recent studies show that electron acceleration by whistler mode chorus waves becomes most efficient just outside the plasmapause, near L = 4.5, where peaks in the electron phase space density are observed. We present CRRES data on the spatial distribution of chorus emissions during active conditions. The wave data are used to calculate the pitch angle and energy diffusion rates in three magnetic local time (MLT) sectors and to obtain a timescale for acceleration. We show that chorus emissions in the prenoon sector accelerate electrons most efficiently at latitudes above 15° for equatorial pitch angles between 20° and 60°. As electrons drift around the Earth, they are scattered to large pitch angles and further accelerated by chorus on the nightside in the equatorial region. The timescale to accelerate electrons by whistler mode chorus and increase the flux at 1 MeV by an order of magnitude is approximately 1 day, in agreement with satellite observations during the recovery phase of storms. During wave acceleration the electrons undergo many drift orbits and the resulting pitch angle distributions are energy-dependent. Chorus scattering should produce pitch angle distributions that are either flat-topped or butterfly-shaped. The results provide strong support for the wave acceleration theory.

Substorm dependence of chorus amplitudes: Implications for the acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies

Abstract: Intense interest currently exists in determining the roles played by various wave-particle interactions in the acceleration of electrons to relativistic energies during/following geomagnetic storms. Here we present a survey of wave data from the CRRES Plasma Wave Experiment for lower band (0.1-0.5f(ce)) and upper band (0.5-1.0f(ce)) chorus, f(ce) being the electron gyrofrequency, to assess whether these waves could play an important role in the acceleration of a seed population of electrons to relativistic energies during and following geomagnetic storms. Outside of the plasmapause the chorus emissions are largely substorm-dependent, and all chorus emissions are enhanced when substorm activity is enhanced. The equatorial chorus (/ lambda (m) / 300 nT) with average amplitudes typically >0.5 mV m(-1) predominantly in the region 3 15 degrees) is strongest in the lower band during active conditions, with average amplitudes typically >0.5 mV m(-1) in the region 3 < L < 7 over a range of local times on the dayside, principally in the range 0600-1500 MLT, Consistent with wave generation in the horns of the magnetosphere. An inner population of weak, substorm-independent emissions with average amplitudes generally < 0.2 mV m(-1) are seen in both bands largely inside L = 4 on the nightside during quiet (AE < 100 nT) and moderate (100 nT < AE < 300 nT) conditions. These emissions lie inside the plasmapause and are attributed to signals from lightning and ground-based VLF transmitters. We conclude that the significant increases in chorus amplitudes seen outside of the plasmapause during substorms support the theory of electron acceleration by whistler mode chorus in that region. The results suggest that electron acceleration by whistle mode chorus during/following geomagnetic storms can only be effective when there are periods of prolonged substorm activity following the main phase of the geomagnetic storm.

Theory and simulation of the generation of whistler-mode chorus

Abstract: [1] The generation process of whistler-mode chorus emissions is analyzed by both theory and simulation. Driven by an assumed strong temperature anisotropy of energetic electrons, the initial wave growth of chorus is linear. After the linear growth phase, the wave amplitude grows nonlinearly. It is found that the seeds of chorus emissions with rising frequency are generated near the magnetic equator as a result of a nonlinear growth mechanism that depends on the wave amplitude. We derive the relativistic second-order resonance condition for a whistler-mode wave with a varying frequency. Wave trapping of resonant electrons near the equator results in the formation of an electromagnetic electron hole in the wave phase space. For a specific wave phase variation, corresponding to a rising frequency, the electron hole can form a resonant current that causes growth of a wave with a rising frequency. Seeds of chorus elements grow from the saturation level of the whistler-mode instability at the equator and then propagate away from the equator. In the frame of reference moving with the group velocity, the wave frequency is constant. The wave amplitude is amplified by the nonlinear resonant current, which is sustained by the increasing inhomogeneity of the dipole magnetic field over some distance from the equator. Chorus elements are generated successively at the equator so long as a sufficient flux of energetic electrons with a strong temperature anisotropy is present.