低纬导管哨声

本文利用在我国海南岛三亚地区（18.24°N,109.5°E;磁纬7.04°N）观测到的哨声和吱声资料,研究了低纬哨声的物理性质。观测资料和理论分析的结果表明,在低纬仍能接收到沿着按场排列的导管传播的导管哨声。结果间接地表明,在电离层中也存在哨声导管,导管哨声的临界截止纬度应当位于比磁纬7.04°N更低的地区。     

On the structure of ducts for mid-latitude whistlers and their ionospheric transmission as deduced from the ground-based direction finding

The ground-based direction finding carried out at Ceduna, Australia (L=1.93) has yielded the structure for mid-latitude whistlers and their duct ionospheric transmission mechanism. It is found that the ducts tend to take place (or be formed) at the same latitudes and that such sheet-shaped duct includes some inhomogeneities within it which act as field-aligned ducts.     

Dispersive properties of a magnetized plasma with strong short-scale irregularities

The dispersive properties of a magnetized plasma with strong short-scale field-aligned irregularities are investigated, and the dielectric permittivity tensor is derived. The components of this tensor are analyzed, and the limits of applicability of the approach used are discussed. The results obtained will be useful with regard to radio wave propagation and electromagnetic wave generation by superthermal electrons in magnetized plasmas containing such irregularities.     

地球磁层中哨声导管的物理结构

本文在理论上探讨了地球磁层中哨声导管的物理特征。利用两种能够引导甚低频电磁波的导管模式,求得哨声导管中磁场和电流的分布。当磁场偏离势场或无力场时,将会产生场向电流,该电流与导管的强度和稳定维持密切相关。根据这些结果,我们认为高纬磁层中观测到的较强的场向电流,是高纬地区地面台站频繁接收到哨声及其回波的一个重要原因。     

Spatial observations by the CUTLASS coherent scatter radar of ionospheric modification by high power radio waves

Results are presented from an experimental campaign in April 1996, in which the new CUTLASS (Co-operative UK twin-located Auroral Sounding System) coherent scatter radar was employed to observe artificial field aligned irregularities (FAI) generated by the EISCAT (European Incoherent SCATter) heating facility at Tromso, Norway. The distribution of back-scatter intensity from within the heated region has been investigated both in azimuth and range with the Finland component of CUTLASS, and the first observations of artificial irregularities by the Iceland radar are also presented. The heated region has been measured to extend over a horizontal distance of 170 ± 50 km, which by comparison with a model of the heater beam pattern corresponds to a threshold electric field for FAI of between 0.1 and O.OlV/m. Differences between field-aligned and vertical propagation heating are also presented.     

The inversion of incoherent scatter spectra with a non-Maxwellian electron distribution

With the action of powerful, high-frequency (HF) radio waves, the ionosphere plasma will depart from the equilibrium state and the non-Maxwellian distribution function can be produced. An artificial field-aligned irregularities (AFAI) model is introduced to describe the distortion from the normal shape, and the measured data are analyzed with this model during ionosphere heating at a 186-km height on August 15th, 2006. The electron temperature and density deduced from the AFAI model are compared with the results obtained from a standard procedure. The inversion of the electron temperature is evidently affected, and the overestimation is up to 22.9%. Owing to the introduction of the AFAI model, the new irregularities’ parameters can be obtained, which implies that incoherent scatter radar is feasible as a ground-based instrument to diagnose information on irregularities.     

Anisotropy of ionospheric irregularities determined from the amplitude of satellite signals at a single receiver

A new method of determining the anisotropy parameters of small-scale irregularities in the ionospheric F region is presented and experimental results are shown. The method is based on observations of amplitude fluctuations of radio waves transmitted by satellites flying above the F region. In practice, Russian navigational satellites are used and both the amplitude and the phase of the signal is measured on the ground level. The method determines both the field-aligned anisotropy and the field-perpendicular anisotropy and orientation of the spatial spectrum of the irregularities, assuming that the contours of constant power have an elliptic shape. A possibility of applying the method to amplitude tomography is also discussed. Using a chain of receivers on the ground level, one could locate the regions of small-scale irregularities as well as determine their relative intensities. Then the large-scale background structures could be mapped simultaneously by means of ordinary ray tomography using the phase observations, and therefore the relations of small-scale and large-scale structures could be investigated.     

Equatorial plasma bubbles studied using African slant total electron content observations

Equatorial plasma bubbles (EPBs) are field-aligned depletions of F-region ionospheric plasma density that grow from irregularities caused by the generalized Rayleigh–Taylor instability mechanism in the postsunset equatorial sector. Although they have been studied for some decades, they continue to be an important subject of both experimental and theoretical investigations because of their effects on trans-ionospheric radio communications.In this work, calibrated data of slant total electron content (sTEC) taken every 10 min from EGNOS System Test Bed Brazzaville (Congo), Douala (Cameroon), Lome (Togo) and N’Djamena (Chad), and International GNSS Service Ascension Island, Malindi (Kenya), and Libreville (Gabon), stations are used to detect plasma bubbles in the African equatorial region during the first 6 months of 2004. To identify these irregularities, the trend of every curve of sTEC against time is subtracted from the original data. The size of the EPBs is estimated by measuring its amplitude in the de-trended time variation of sTEC.     

Comparison of the orientation of small-scale electron density irregularities and F region plasma flow direction

Results are shown from an experimental campaign where satellite scintillation was observed at three sites at high latitudes and, simultaneously, the F region plasma flow was measured by the nearby EISCAT incoherent scatter radar. The anisotropy parameters of field-aligned irregularities are determined from amplitude scintillation using a method based on the variance of the relative logarithmic amplitude. The orientation of the anisotropy in a plane perpendicular to the geomagnetic field is compared with the direction of F region plasma flow. The results indicate that in most cases a good agreement between the two directions is obtained.     

Geophysical phenomena during an ionospheric modification experiment at Tromsø, Norway

We present an analysis of phenomena observed by HF distance-diagnostic tools located in St. Petersburg combined with multi-instrument observation at Tromsø in the HF modified ionosphere during a magnetospheric substorm. The observed phenomena that occurred during the Tromsø heating experiment in the nightside auroral E_s region of the ionosphere depend on the phase of substorm. The heating excited small-scale field-aligned irregularities in the E region responsible for field-aligned scattering of diagnostic HF waves. The equipment used in the experiment was sensitive to electron density irregularities with wavelengths 12–15 m across the geomagnetic field lines. Analysis of the Doppler measurement data shows the appearance of quasiperiodic variations with a Doppler frequency shift, f_d and periods about 100–120 s during the heating cycle coinciding in time with the first substorm activation and initiation of the upward field-aligned currents. A relationship between wave variations in f_d and magnetic pulsations in the Y-component of the geomagnetic field at Tromsø was detected. The analysis of the magnetic field variations from the IMAGE magnetometer stations shows that ULF waves occurred, not only at Tromsø, but in the adjacent area bounded by geographical latitudes from 70.5° to 68° and longitudes from 16° to 27°. It is suggested that the ULF observed can result from superposition of the natural and heater-induced ULF waves. During the substorm expansion a strong stimulated electromagnetic emission (SEE) at the third harmonic of the downshifted maximum frequency was found. It is believed that SEE is accompanied by excitation of the VLF waves penetrating into magneto-sphere and stimulating the precipitation of the energetic electrons (10–40 keV) of about 1-min duration. This is due to a cyclotron resonant interaction of natural precipitating electrons (1–10 keV) with heater-induced whistler waves in the magnetosphere. It is reasonable to suppose that a new substorm activation, exactly above Tromsø, was closely connected with the heater-induced precipitation of energetic electrons.     

Observations of peculiar sporadic sodium structures and their relation with wind variations

Resonance lidar observations of sodium density in the upper mesosphere region over Gadanki (13.5°N, 79.2°E) rarely show complex structures with rapid enhancements of sodium density, completely different from normal sporadic sodium structures. The hourly averaged meteor radar zonal winds over Trivandrum (8.5°N, 76.5°E) show an eastward shear with altitude during the nights, when these events are formed. As suggested by Kane et al. [2001. Joint observations of sodium enhancements and field-aligned ionospheric irregularities. Geophysical Research Letters 28, 1375–1378], our observations show that the complex structures may be formed due to Kelvin–Helmholtz instability, which can occur in the region of strong wind shear.     

磁纬20°以下地区哨声多台宽带定向观测及其初步结果

武汉大学哨声组与日本名古屋大学空电研究所合作于1988年1月在我国南方进行了哨声多台宽带定向测量。利用近两年研制的宽带数字化频率追踪定向分析系统,首次获得了磁纬20°以下地区哨声波出口区与偏振状态的实验结果。初步分析发现,在湛江附近（磁纬约10°N）存在一个比较稳定的哨声路径出口区,三台同时接收到的哨声大多从这同一出口区透射出来;有时存在两个出口区,一个仍位于湛江附近,另一个位于桂林和武昌之间;沿两条不同路径传播的同源哨声具有几乎相同的色散。本文所做的非导管射线追踪计算能比较满意地解释定向实验结果。另外,此次观测中还发现一些新的有意义的现象,如记录到近百例两跳、三跳及五跳回波等,这在低纬地区是非常少见的。     

Influence of Whistler Turbulence on Fast Electron Distribution and Their Microwave Emissions in a Flare Loop

The influence of whistlers on the distribution and gyrosynchrotron radiation of fast electrons injected into a coronal magnetic trap is considered. The kinetic equation in the Fokker–Planck approximation with consideration of fast electron scattering, both on background plasma particles and on whistlers, is solved for an inhomogeneous trap. It is supposed that the source of whistlers is a nonstationary process of flare energy release. Having found the fast electron distribution, we can calculate their gyrosynchrotron microwave emission. The influence of nonthermal electron scattering on whistlers are compared with the effects of scattering on Coulomb collisions. It is shown that whistlers considerably modify the emission characteristics of a loop at a certain energy density; in particular, they steepen the frequency spectrum. This is useful for microwave diagnostics of plasma turbulence in the flare loop.     

甚低纬多跳哨声的非导管传播

实验发现,在磁纬20°以下区域地面可重复接收到多跳哨声.本文着重考察了低纬多跳哨声非导管传播的可能性.计算结果证明,在给定的电离层状态下,该地区可以形成多跳哨声的非导管传播路径.射线追踪得到的多跳路径特征能满意地解释文中所列实验结果.因此,作为一种可能的传播机制,低纬多跳哨声的非导管传播方式值得重视.     

Ion whistlers in mid-latitude trough of light ions

Summary In the set of VLF data from the Interkosmos-14 satellite (launched on 11 December 1975 with apogee height of 1707 km, perigee 345 km and inclination 74°) as received in direct telemetry transmissions at the Observatory Panská Ves (Czechoslovakia), ion cyclotron whistlers were found at unusually high geomagnetic latitudes. These whistlers indicate a marked decrease of proton density in the close vicinity of the satellite with increasing geomagnetic latitude. It appeared, moreover, that proton whistlers at higher geomagnetic latitudes even sensitively reflected the rapid changes of plasma parameters within the region of the mid-latitude trough of light ions.     

Letter to the editor First direct observations of the reduced striations at pump frequencies close to the electron gyroharmonics

It is well known that the ionospheric plasma response to high-power HF radio waves changes drastically as the heater frequency approaches harmonics of the electron gyrofrequency. These include changes in the spectrum of the stimulated electromagnetic emission, reduction in the anomalous absorption of low-power diagnostic waves propagating through the heated volume, and reduction in the large scale F-region heating. Theoretical models as well as previous experimental evidence point towards the absence of small-scale field-aligned plasma density irregularities at pump frequencies close to electron gyroharmonics as the main cause of these changes. Results presented in this paper are the first direct observations of the reduced striations at the 3rd gyroharmonic made by the CUTLASS radar. In addition, simultaneous EISCAT observations have revealed that the “enhanced ion-line” usually present in the EISCAT ion-line spectrum during the first few seconds after heater switch on, persisted at varying strengths while the heater was transmitting at frequencies close to the 3rd electron gyroharmonics.     

Application of matched filtering and parameter estimation technique to low latitude whistlers

The Matched Filtering and Parameter Estimation (MFPE) technique developed for the analysis of mid/high latitude whistlers has been extended to analyze whistlers recorded at low latitude ground station Varanasi, India (geomagnetic latitude 14° 55′ N, longitude 153° 59′ E, L=1.07). Some of the whistlers recorded at Varanasi are found to have propagated along higher L-values (L>2). It has been argued that these whistlers after exiting the ionosphere have propagated towards the equator in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide. Trace splitting is observed below the nose frequency and above 2.0 kHz, a result in agreement with mid/high latitude whistlers. The trace splitting structure revealed by MFPE demonstrates the complexities of whistler wave propagation and is quite helpful in deriving information about high resolution features of the duct structure. The banded features observed in the dynamic spectrum are clearly seen in the output of the matched filter. The observed banded features may arise due to interference between the wavelets propagating in the duct/waveguide.     

Temporal behaviour of artificial small-scale ionospheric irregularities: Review of experimental results

Features of artificial small-scale ionospheric irregularities (ASI) induced at F-region heights by powerful HF waves are discussed. The investigations presented here were performed during the past two decades at the Zimenki and Sura heating facilities, located at middle latitudes near Nizhniy Novgorod, Russia, as well as at the Gissar facility located at a lower latitude near Dushanbe, Tadzhikistan. The measurements were made by a variety of diagnostic methods employing artificial field-aligned scattering of HF and VHF radio waves, sounding of the disturbed region by means of low-power probing waves and testing of the artificial turbulence by means of stimulated electromagnetic emission (SEE). The dependence of ASI on such parameters as transverse scale length of the artificial irregularities, their location in the disturbed region, the power of the heating wave, the duration of HF radiation, geophysical conditions, aftereffects of the preceding modification, and the schedule of heater operation is considered for both the development stage after pump turn-on and the decay stage after pump turn-off. The temporal evolution of ASI spectral characteristics during the heater period is discussed. An empirical model for the ASI, based on the data available, was elaborated and verified by computer simulation of SEE generation.     

Connections between whistlers and pulsation activity

Simultaneous whistler records of one station and geomagnetic pulsation (Pc3) records at three stations were compared. In a previous study correlation was found between occurrence and L value of propagation/excitation for the two phenomena. The recently investigated simultaneous records have shown that the correlation is better on longer time scales (days) than on shorter ones (minutes), but the L values of the propagation of whistlers/excitation of pulsations are correlated, i.e. if whistlers propagate in higher latitude ducts, pulsations have periods longer than in the case when whistlers propagate in lower latitude ducts.