Whistler waves

spaceweb@oulu.fi - last update: 1 December 1998, 2310 UT (RR)

Magnetospheric whistler waves were first observed by Storey (1953), who interpreted them as evidence of plasma around Earth. The found region was, of course, plasmasphere, and ground-based whistler observations of  have subsequently been used to monitore the plasmapause location. Whistlers have also provided an indirect way to estimate plasmaspheric electric fields (Carpenter et al., 1972). This is because the whistler ducts move radially under the influence of the azimuthal electric field.

Whistler mode waves can create auroral region lower hybrid waves (see ion outflow event). They can also produce isolated bursts of precipitating electrons in mid-latitudes (Rosenberg et al., 1971). In addition, it has been shown that they can be generated by electrical transmission lines: these are the so-called power line harmonics.

References

• Carpenter, D. L., K. Stone, J. C. Siren, and T. L. Crystal, Magnetospheric electric fields deduced from drifting whistler paths, J. Geophys. Res., 77, 2819, 1972.
• Rosenberg, T. J., R. A. Helliwell, and J. P. Katsufrakis, Electron precipitation associated with discrete very low frequency emissions, J. Geophys. Res., 76, 8445, 1971.
• Storey, L. R. O., An investigation of whistling atmospherics, Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc., 246, 113, 1953.

See also:

• Space Physics Text Book of Oulu