Non-thermal continuum emissions associated with electron injections: Remote plasmapause sounding

Energetic electron injection events result in the arrival of loss-cone distributions of electrons at energies of a few keV close to the plasmapause at local midnight. These distributions favour the growth of strong electrostatic waves with some conversion to electromagnetic nonthermal continuum emissions near to the geomagnetic equator.GEOS2 located at the geostationary orbit (L = 6.6, 3.3° South) has observed these continuum emissions for a number of electron injection events. Their unique frequency structure provides a measurement of the geomagnetic field strength at the source and hence its radial position, while direction finding measurements at GEOS2 complete the source location determination.Measurements of source locations as a function of time after the start of an electron injection event, yield typical inwards motions of 1R_Eh^?1. In this way the emissions provide a remote sensing of the plasmapause location from the geostationary orbit.