Search

Using numerical filtering techniques allowing us to reduce noise from sferics, we are able to clearly study a new type of differently structured very low frequency (VLF) radio waves above f = 4 kHz at the ground station of Kannuslehto in northern Finland (KAN, MLAT = 64.4°N, L = 5.5). These emissions are intriguing, since they are detected at frequencies above half the electron gyrofrequency in the equatorial plane (fce) for the L-shell of Kannuslehto (fce ~ 5–6 kHz). They are commonly observed at Kannuslehto, but have also been infrequently reported at other stations, sometimes under different names. Their possible common origin and manner of propagation is still under investigation. This paper unifies the nomenclature by regrouping all these waves detected at frequencies higher than the local equatorial 0.5 fce at the L-shell of observation under the name of VLF bursty-patches. While these waves have different spectral features, they appeared mostly composed of hiss bursts with durations of a few seconds to several minutes. They also show periodic features with varying periodicity and shape. They are sometimes characterized by single bursts covering very large frequency ranges of several kHz. We also give a review of the different characteristics of VLF bursty-patches observed at Kannuslehto, which at the moment, is the station with the highest observation rate. We present recent observations between 2019 and 2021.

We have studied the geomagnetic conditions during the occurrence of auroral-hiss VLF emissions on the Earth’s surface in the form of noise bursts at frequencies above 5–6 kHz. The study is based on an analysis of auroral-hiss observations at auroral latitudes in northern Finland at Kannuslehto station (KAN, L ~ 5.5) during the winter campaigns of 2013–2018. It is shown that auroral-hiss bursts are most often observed in the interval of 20–01 MLT under low geomagnetic activity (Kp < 3). It has been found that the bursts are typical for the growth phase of a magnetospheric substorm; the bursts cease abruptly at the onset of the substorm (the break-up of auroras), which is apparently due to a drastic increase in the absorption of VLF waves in the ionosphere. The bursts are often accompanied by the generation of geomagnetic Pi2 pulsations. VLF observations have shown that auroral-hiss bursts are not observed on the Earth’s surface in the main phase of magnetic storms; however, they are typical of the recovery phase. It has been found from model data that, during the occurrence of auroral hiss, KAN station is usually projected to the near-equatorial region of the auroral oval or to the zone of diffuse precipitation of more energetic electrons, i.e., to lower latitudes than the typical position of visible auroras during that time.

Using numerical filtering techniques allowing to reduce noise from sferics, we are able to clearly study a new type of differently structured very low frequency (VLF) waves above f = 4 kHz at the ground station of Kannuslehto in northern Finland (KAN, MLAT=64.4°N, L=5.5). These emissions are intriguing since they are detected above the local equatorial electron gyrofrequency for the L-shell of Kannuslehto (fce ~ 5- 6 kHz). They are commonly observed at Kannuslehto, but have also been infrequently reported at other stations, sometimes under different names. Their possible common origin and manner of propagation is still under investigation. This paper unifies the nomenclature by regrouping all these waves detected at frequencies higher than the local equatorial 0.5 fce at the L-shell of observation under the name of VLF bursty-patches. We also give a review of the different characteristics of VLF bursty-patches observed by Kannuslehto, which at the moment, is the station with the highest observation rate. We will present recent observations between 2019 and 2021. While these waves have different spectral features, they appeared mostly composed of hiss bursts with durations of a few seconds to several minutes. They also show periodic features with varying periodicity and shape. They are sometimes characterized by single bursts covering very large frequency ranges of several kHz.

The new typeof daytime natural VLF whistler mode emissions of the magnetospheric origin was recently found in the VLF observations at Kannuslehto station (L ~ 5.5) in Northern Finland.These VLF events occurred at the frequencies above 4-5 kHzeven up to 15 kHz. Here we present the different spectra of this peculiar daytime high-frequency VLF emissions observed under quiet geomagnetic conditions at auroral latitudes at Kannuslehto (Finland) and Lovozero (Russia) stations. These high-frequency waves cannot be attributed to typical well known VLF chorus and hiss. They became visible on the spectrograms only after the filtering out sferics originating by the lightning discharges and hiding all natural high-frequency signals. After this filtering, it was found a large collection of different natural VLF signals observed as a sequence of right-polarized short (less than 1-2 minutes) patches at frequencies above 4-5 kHz, i.e. at higher frequencythan a half the equatorial electron gyrofrequency at the L-shell of Kannuslehto and Lovozero. These emissions were called “birds” due to their chirped sounds. It was established that the “birds” are typically occur during the daytime only under quiet space weather conditions. But in this time, small magnetic substorms were could be observed in the night sector of the Earth. Here we also show the recently observed series of the “bird-mode” emissions with various bizarre quasi-periodic dynamic spectra, sometimes consisting of two (and even more) frequency bands. The “birds” occur simultaneously at Kannuslehto and Lovozero with similar spectral structure demonstrating their common source. It seems that the “birds” emissions are generated deep inside the magnetosphere at the low L-shells. But the real nature, the generation region and propagation behavior of these VLF emissions remain still unknown. Moreover, nobody can explain how the waves could reach the ground at the auroral latitudes like Kannuslehto and Lovozero as well as which magnetospheric driver could generate this very complicated spectral feature of the emissions.

We study quasi-periodic VLF emissions observed simultaneously by Van Allen Probes spacecraft and Kannuslehto and Lovozero ground-based stations on 25 December 2015. Both Van Allen Probes A and B de...

VLF spectrograms registered at Kannuslehto ground station, after cleaning them from strong sferics, reveal VLF noise suppression by whistlers and whistler echo trains, which consists in significant...

Very low frequency (VLF) auroral hiss at Kannuslehto (KAN), Finland, was analyzed with reference to the progress of 98 isolated magnetic substorms measured during the winter months of 2015–2018. Of these, 91 were accompanied by auroral hiss during the substorm growth phase. No auroral hiss was recorded during the expansion and recovery phases. We found that auroral hiss was observed under rising polar cap (PC) index, showing an increased solar wind energy input into the magnetosphere during the substorm growth phase. We also found that in 58 of the 65 events studied, KAN was located in the vicinity of enhanced field‐aligned currents (FACs) during auroral hiss occurrence. For the first time, it was established that auroral VLF hiss generation in the equatorial part of the auroral oval is a typical signature of a substorm growth phase. Plain Language Summary Auroral hiss is a well‐known type of nighttime natural VLF emission with a noise‐like structure generated by the Cherenkov instability of precipitating soft electrons above the ionosphere. Auroral hiss occurrence up to 39 kHz was studied in the equatorward region of the auroral oval at the Finnish station Kannuslehto (KAN, MLAT = 64.2°N) during 11 winter months in 2015–2018. During this time interval, 98 isolated and rather powerful magnetic substorms were recorded over Scandinavia. In 93% of the substorms studied, an auroral VLF hiss was recorded at the same time as enhancement of field‐aligned currents (FACs). FACs are caused by soft electron precipitation which could be a plausible source of the auroral VLF hiss generation. For the first time, it was found that auroral VLF hiss occurrence in the equatorward region of the auroral oval is a typical signature of the substorm growth phase.

We reveal previously unknown quasi-periodic (QP) very low frequency (VLF) emissions at the unusually high-frequency band of ∼ 7–12 kHz by applying the digital filtering of strong atmospherics to the ground-based VLF data recorded at Kannuslehto station (KAN). It is located in northern Finland at L ∼ 5.5. The frequencies of QP emissions are much higher than the equatorial electron gyrofrequency at L ∼ 5.5. Thus, these emissions must have been generated at much lower L shells than KAN. Two high-frequency QP emission events have been studied in detail. The emissions were right-hand polarized waves indicating an overhead location of the exit area of waves in the ionosphere. In one event, the spectral–temporal forms of the emissions looked like a series of giant “bullets” due to the very abrupt cessation. Unfortunately, we could not explain such a strange dynamic spectral shape of the waves. In the second event, the modulation period was about 3 min under the absence of simultaneous geomagnetic pulsations. The studied emissions lasted about 4 h and were observed under the very quiet geomagnetic activity. The adequate mechanisms of the generation and propagation of the revealed high-frequency QP emissions have not yet been established. We speculate that studied QP emissions can be attributed to the auto-oscillations of the cyclotron instability in the magnetospheric plasma maser.

This paper is concerned with a new, previously unknown type of high-frequency (above 4 kHz) VLF emissions that were detected during winter VLF campaigns in Kannuslehto (L ~ 5.5), Finland. These previously unknown emissions have been discovered as a result of the application of special digital filtering: it clears the VLF records from pulse signals of intensive atmospherics, which prevent other kinds of VLF emissions in the same frequency range from being seen on spectrograms. As it appears, aside from wellknown bursts of auroral hisses and discrete quasiperiodic emissions, a previously unknown type of daytime right-hand polarized VLF waves is also present at frequencies above 4 kHz. These emissions can persist for several hours as series of separate short discrete wideband (from 4 to 10 kHz and higher) signals, each with a duration between one and several minutes. It has been found that such signals can be observed almost daily in winter. These emissions sound like bird’s chirping to a human ear; for that reason, they were called “bird emissions.” The dynamic spectra of individual signals often resemble flying birds. The signals are observed during daytime, more often in magnetically quiet conditions preceded by geomagnetic disturbances. As a rule, the occurrence of these bird emissions is accompanied by a slight increase in electron density in the lower ionosphere, which is evidence of the precipitation of energetic (>30 keV) electrons. This raises a number of questions as to where and how the VLF bird emissions are generated and how such emissions, at frequencies greatly exceeding half the electron equatorial gyrofrequency at L ~ 5.5, can reach the Earth’s surface.

VLF (VeryLow Frequency) spectrograms registered at Kannuslehto ground station, after cleaning them from strong sferics, reveal VLF noise suppression by whistlers and whistler echo trains, which consists in significant reduction in the noise spectral power after a strong whistler event. We have found similar effect in the VLF data from Van Allen Probe B taken in the equatorial region on L‐shell ~3. Detailed analysis of the data shows that the whistler echo train and the VLF noise have small wave normal angles. Based on this observation, we limit our analysis to parallel (ducted) whistler wave propagation. The persistence of whistler echo train, as well as the VLF noise, suggests that in the events under discussion, plasma is unstable in the frequency range corresponding to the observed VLF noise band. In an attempt to explain the effect of VLF noise suppression, we follow up the long‐standing idea that relates this effect to the reduction of free energy in the unstable plasma distribution by whistler echo train. To develop this idea into qualitative model, we have studied the motion of energetic electrons, responsible for the noise generation, in the field of ducted whistler echo train. We show that energetic electrons that make the main contribution to the growth rate of VLF noise, during their bounce oscillations in the magnetosphere, are subject to multiple resonant impacts from the whistler echo train. These lead to energetic electron diffusion in the phase space and the corresponding reduction in free energy of the unstable distribution.

We study a simple self-consistent model of a whistler cyclotron maser derived from the full set of quasi-linear equations. We employ numerical calculations to demonstrate dependencies of pulsation regimes of whistler-mode wave interactions with energetic electrons on plasma parameters. Possible temporal evolution of those regimes in real conditions is discussed; calculations are compared with case-study experimental data on energetic electron precipitation pulsations. A reasonable agreement of the model results and the observations has been found.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (Auroral phenomena; Energetic particles · precipitating; Storms and substorms)

VLF ground data from Porojarvi in N. Finland has been presented. Spectrograms reveal frequent occurrence of power line harmonic radiation (PLHR), originating from the Finnish power system and from heavy industrial plant. The radiation is seen to penetrate the magnetosphere since numerous occurrences of PLHR triggered emissions are seen. Risers predominate but fallers and hooks are also observed. A well-established 1D Vlasov simulation code has been used to simulate these emissions, using plausible magnetospheric data for a range of L values from L = 4 to L = 5.5. The code is able to reproduce risers fallers and hooks in close agreement with observations. The results shed considerable insight into the generation structure of both risers and fallers.Key words. Electromagnetics (numerical methods) · Ionosphere (wave-particle interactions) · Magnetospheric physics (plasma waves and instabilities)

The results of coordinated EISCAT and TV-camera observations of a prebreakup event on 15 November 1993 have been considered. The variations of the luminosity of two parallel auroral arcs, plasma depletion on the poleward edge of one of these arcs as well as electron and ion temperatures in front of a westward travelling surge were studied. It was found that a short-lived brightening of a weak zenith arc before an auroral breakup was accompanied by fading of an equatorial arc and, vice versa. A plasma depletion in the E region was detected by the EISCAT radar on the poleward edge of the zenith arc just before the auroral breakup. The plasma depletion was associated with an enhancement of ion (at the altitudes of 150–200 km) and electron (in E region) temperatures. During its occurrence, the electric field in the E-region was extremely large (~150 mV/m). A significant increase in ion temperature was also observed 1 min before the arrival of a westward travelling surge (WTS) at the radar zenith. This was interpreted as the existence of an extended area of enhanced electric field ahead of the WTS.

The features of the dynamics of solar wind and IMF parameters were studied during the initial phase of the weak magnetic storm of December 8, 2013, where a nontypical two hour lasting wide-band (∼4–10 kHz) hiss burst was recorded during VLF observations in auroral latitudes near Sodankyla observatory (L ∼ 5.5), which differed from classical auroral hiss. A similar VLF hiss burst was recorded at Russian Lovozero observatory, which is located ∼400 km to the east. In contrast to a typical auroral hiss, the VLF emissions at both points were left-polarized and arrived at the observation point from the southeast. Although the VLF hiss burst coincided in time with the development of a substorm and the appearance of zenithal bright auroras near the stations traveling north-south, the excitation of the VLF hiss apparently has no relation to the auroras. It is suggested that the VLF emissions were generated due to cyclotron instability far to the east of Scandinavia in the region of plasmapause at L ∼ 3.5, where the equatorial gyrofrequency (f He) is about 20 kHz. The generated VLF waves could be ducted in the plasmapause at frequencies lower than a half of f He, i.e., below ∼10 kHz, they arrive at the Earth’s surface near the projection of their source and propagate in the Earth-ionosphere waveguide to large distances, as left-polarized waves. A sharp increase in the solar wind dynamic pressure was noted during the hiss burst under study, which resulted in a significant contraction of the daytime magnetosphere, a shift of the plasmapause and radiation belt to lower L shells, and the development of a substorm and southward travel of auroral arcs. The VLF hiss may have been generated in the region where energetic particles of the radiation belt crossed the plasmapause. The fact that the hiss under study was generated not in the early morning sector (Scandinavian meridian), but much further to the east, could be indirectly confirmed by quasiperiodic modulation of the VLF noise intensity in the range of Pc5 geomagnetic pulsations, which were observed in this period at eastern stations but not at the Scandinavian meridian.

Simultaneous records of VLF (very low frequencies) emissions have been carried out at two ground-based stations located at similar geomagnetic latitudes near L ~ 5.5 and spaced in the longitude by ~ 400 km, Kannuslehto (KAN) in Finland and Lovozero (LOZ) in Russia, using quite similar VLF receivers with two calibrated orthogonal air-core loop antennas. We found that the general spectral properties of the VLF chorus emissions at these two stations were similar and typically have right-hand polarization. Contrary to VLF chorus, the short-period VLF emissions (periodic emissions, PE) in which separated spectral elements are repeated with the periodicity of 3–4 s were mostly left-hand polarized. Usually, these waves propagated in the north–south direction. We suppose that PEs are generated inside of the plasmasphere by the cyclotron instability under a quasi-linear relaxation of the energetic electron distribution function. However, sometimes PE occurred only at an individual station. We speculated that this could be due to the influence of the local inhomogeneities to the VLF waves during the propagation through the ionospheric trough to the ground. Unusual series of short-duration (10–100 s) bursts of VLF emissions, lasting several hours, were also found in the morning under very quiet geomagnetic conditions (Kp ~ 0–1). Generally, these emissions were observed simultaneously at KAN and LOZ showing both right-hand and left-hand polarization, and different arrival directions provided the rather extended ionospheric exit area.

[1] Since 2007, the Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory routinely performs vertical ionosphere soundings once per minute, using a frequency-modulated continuous-wave chirp at the rate of 500 kHz/s from 500 kHz to 16 MHz. We used these data to study traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) during 10–16 local time. The observations were made between April 2007 and June 2012, mostly during low solar activity. The TIDs were studied in five bands of periods corresponding to the following: infrasonic (acoustic) waves and the buoyancy cutoff (periods from 5 to 10 min); small-scale gravity waves (GWs; 10–15 min); medium-scale (MS; 15–30 min) GWs; medium-large scale (MS-LS; 30–60 min) GWs; and large-scale (LS; 60–120 min) GWs. Relative contribution (with respect to LS TIDs) of the short-period (5–15 min) and MS (15–30 min) TIDs shows minima in winter and maxima in summer. These annual variations anticorrelate with variations of true height, namely, the largest relative amplitudes occur in summer, when TIDs were observed at minimal heights. We suggest that the summer increase of shorter-period TIDs is due to lowering reflection to the height where the Brunt-Vaisala period is smaller and, hence, shorter-period gravity waves exist. The summer maxima were most prominent during the 3 years of minimal solar activity (2008–2010). In 2011, when solar activity increased, the annual variation seems less prominent. Annual variations of the longer-period (30–120 min) TIDs are essentially less significant. For all TIDs, no obvious dependences on the AE and Ap indices of magnetic activity were found.

International audience; We present a detailed analysis of a long-lasting quasiperiodic (QP) event observed simultaneously by the low-altitude DEMETER spacecraft and on the ground by the instrumentation of the Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory, Finland. The event was observed on 26 February 2008. It lasted for several hours, and it was detected both in the Northern and Southern Hemispheres. The time intervals when the event was observed on board the satellite and/or on the ground provide us with an estimate of the event dimensions. When the event is detected simultaneously by the satellite and on the ground, the observed frequency-time structure is generally the same. However, the ratio of detected intensities varies significantly as a function of the spacecraft latitude, indicating the wave guiding along the plasmapause. Moreover, there is a delay as large as about 13 s between the times when individual QP elements are detected by the spacecraft and on the ground. This appears to be related to the azimuthal separation of the instruments, and it is highly relevant to the identification of a possible source mechanism. We suggest that it is due to an azimuthally propagating ULF wave which periodically modulates the azimuthally extended source region. Finally, we find that at the times when the intensity of the QP event suddenly increases, there is a distinct increase of the amplitude of Alfvénic ULF pulsations measured on the ground at high latitudes. This might indicate that the source region is located at L shells larger than about 7.1.

Night-time VLF (very low frequency) chorus bursts lasting about one hour have been recorded at Finnish temporal station Kannuslehto (CGM: 64.2°; 107.9°, L = 5.3) during two VLF campaigns (on 25 February–4 March 2008 and 27 March–17 April 2011). The chorus bursts were associated with substorm development. They were accompanied by riometer absorption enhancements, which occurred simultaneously within as large longitude areas as from pre-midnight (Sodankylä, ~22:00 MLT) to the late morning (Tixie, ~03:00 MLT and Gakona, ~08:00 MLT) longitudes. It was found that the pre-midnight chorus observed on the ground occurred simultaneously with VLF chorus emissions recorded in the late morning on the low-altitude DEMETER satellite crossing the similar geomagnetic latitudes on the opposite local time sector. For the first time some evidence of simultaneous chorus burst generation in the global longitudinal scale was found (from pre-midnight to the late morning) by using direct comparison with satellite data as well as using non-direct indicator–azimuthally extended riometer absorption enhancements.

The daytime lower ionosphere behaves as a solar X-ray flare detector, which can be monitored using Very Low Frequency (VLF) radio waves that propagate inside the Earth-ionosphere waveguide. In this paper, we infer the lower ionosphere sensitivity variation over a complete solar cycle by using the minimum X-ray fluence (FXmin) necessary to produce a disturbance of the quiescent ionospheric conductivity. FXmin is the photon energy flux integrated over the time interval from the start of a solar X-ray flare up to the beginning of the ionospheric disturbance recorded as amplitude deviation of the VLF signal. FXmin is computed for ionospheric disturbances that occurred in the time interval December-January from 2007 to 2016 (Solar Cycle 24). The computation of FXmin uses the X-ray flux in the wavelength band below 0.2 nm and the amplitude of VLF signals transmitted from France (HWU), Turkey (TBB) and USA (NAA); which were recorded in Brazil, Finland and Peru. The main result of this study is that the long-term variation of FXmin is correlated with the level of solar activity, having FXmin values in the range (1 − 12) × 10−7J/m2. Our result suggests that FXmin is anti-correlated with the lower ionosphere sensitivity, confirming that the long-term variation of the ionospheric sensitivity is anti-correlated with the level of solar activity. This result is important to identify the minimum X-ray fluence that an external source of ionization must overcome in order to produce a measurable ionospheric disturbance during daytime.

We present a multi-instrument study of the ionospheric response to a northward turning of the IMF. The observations were made in the near-noon (11:00 MLT) sector on Svalbard (at 75° MLAT). The data set includes auroral observations, ionospheric flows obtained from the EISCAT and CUTLASS radars, the spectral width of the HF radar backscatter, particle precipitation and plasma flow data from the DMSP F13 satellite, and Pc1 frequency band pulsations observed by induction magnetometers. Careful collocation of all the observations has been made with the HF radar backscatter located by a ray-tracing procedure utilizing the elevation angle of arrival of the signals and an ionospheric plasma density profile. Prior to IMF turning northward, three auroral arcs were observed at the poleward boundary of the closed llbl, inside the llbl, and in the equatorward part of the llbl, respectively. The northward IMF turning was accompanied by enhanced HF radar returns with a broad Doppler spectrum collocated with the arcs. The auroral arcs shifted poleward whereas the backscatter region moved in the opposite direction, which is consistent, respectively, with reconnection beyond the cusp and the capturing of magnetosheath plasma during northward IMF. Locally, magnetic noise enhancement in the Pc1 frequency band occurred simultaneously with the anomalous radar backscatter, and the absence of such signals at more remote magnetic observatories indicates a local generation of the Pc1 turbulence, which is collocated with the radar backscatter. Finally, we discuss possible interpretation errors which may be caused by limited observational data.

This paper presents a comparison between standard ionospheric parameters manually and automatically scaled from ionograms recorded at the high-latitude Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (SGO, ionosonde SO166, 64.1° geomagnetic latitude), located in the vicinity of the auroral oval. The study is based on 2610 ionograms recorded during the period June–December 2013. The automatic scaling was made by means of the Autoscala software. A few typical examples are shown to outline the method, and statistics are presented regarding the differences between manually and automatically scaled values of F2, F1, E and sporadic E (Es) layer parameters. We draw the conclusions that: 1. The F2 parameters scaled by Autoscala, foF2 and M(3000)F2, are reliable. 2. F1 is identified by Autoscala in significantly fewer cases (about 50 %) than in the manual routine, but if identified the values of foF1 are reliable. 3. Autoscala frequently (30 % of the cases) detects an E layer when the manual scaling process does not. When identified by both methods, the Autoscala E-layer parameters are close to those manually scaled, foE agreeing to within 0.4 MHz. 4. Es and parameters of Es identified by Autoscala are in many cases different from those of the manual scaling. Scaling of Es at auroral latitudes is often a difficult task.

Using the data from satellite CRRES and three geostationary LANL spacecraft, the propagation of an electron cloud from midnight to the evening sector is investigated. An electron cloud was injected during a weak isolated substorm that developed on a quiet geomagnetic background. It is found that within the local time sector from 03:00 until at least 08:00 MLT, the propagation of electrons at perpendicular pitch-angles is well described by a simple model of drift in the dipole magnetic field. The flux levels in the field-aligned electrons increase simultaneously with the flux at perpendicular pitch angles, which is attributed to the pitch angle diffusion by the whistler mode. This pitch-angle diffusion leads to precipitation of electrons from a drifting cloud and an increase in the ionospheric electron density, simultaneously observed above Tromsø, Norway, by the EISCAT UHF radar in the morning sector (04:40–05:25 MLT). The precipitation develops as quasi-periodic pulses with a period of about 100 s. We discuss the models of pulsating precipitation due to the whistler cyclotron instability and show that our observations can be explained by such a model.

Continuous observations of fluctuations of the geomagnetic field at Sodankylä Geophysical Observatory (L = 5.2) were used for a comprehensive morphological study of the spectral resonance structure (SRS) seen in the background electromagnetic noise in the frequency range of 0.1–4.0 Hz. It is shown that the occurrence rate of SRS is higher in the nighttime than in the daytime. The occurrence rate is higher in winter than in summer. The SRS frequencies and the difference between neighbouring eigenfrequencies (the frequency scale) increase towards nighttime and decrease towards daytime. Both frequency scale and occurrence rate exhibit a clear tendency to decrease from minimum to maximum of the solar activity cycle. It is found that the occurrence rate of SRS decreases when geomagnetic activity increases. The SRS is believed to be a consequence of a resonator for Alfvén waves, which is suggested to exist in the upper ionosphere. According to the theory of the ionospheric Alfvén resonator (IAR), characteristics of SRS crucially depend on electron density in the F-layer maximum, as well as on the altitudinal scale of the density decay above the maximum.We compared the SRS morphological properties with predictions of the IAR theory. The ionospheric parameters needed for calculation were obtained from the ionosphere model (IRI-95), as well as from measurements made with the ionosonde in Sodankylä. We conclude that, indeed, the main morphological properties of SRS are explained on the basis of the IAR theory. The measured parameters of SRS can be used for improving the ionospheric models.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; wave propagation) – Radio Science (electromagnetic noise and interference)

Very low-frequency (VLF) radio waves have been generated in the ionosphere by the heating facility near Tromso. VLF signals have been received at Porojarvi (69.17 ° N, 21.47 ° E, L = 6.1), in Northern Finland, about 100 km from the heating transmitter. Three heating experiments were performed under different geophysical conditions and different results were obtained. Signal intensities have been compared with magnetic variations. Correlations and anti-correlations were observed. Several harmonics of the generated signal have generally been found. In some cases when the intensity of the detected VLF signal was low the first harmonic was as intensive as the fundamental frequency. VLF response from Artificial Periodic Inhomogeneities (API) experiment was also observed.

A quantitative theory of the generation of ELF/VLF signals, which are caused by the ionospheric demodulation of modulated signals from broadcasting MF/HF transmitters, is developed. Two cases are considered when the ionospheric current, modulated by broadcasting signals, is a one-dimensional linear current (the polar electrojet), and when it is an extended two-dimensional current sheet. It is shown that the main demodulation effect is caused by the formation of an ionospheric travelling wave antenna. In the case of the polar electrojet, this antenna radiates ELF/VLF waves in two directions, one of which coincides with the line connecting the broadcasting transmitter with the ELF/VLF receiver, and the other one is in a direction which is the mirror image of this line relative to the current direction. In this case the polarisation of the ELF/VLF magnetic field component varies widely. In the case of the extended ionospheric current, the demodulation takes place along the line connecting the MF/HF transmitter with the ELF/VLF receiver, and the horizontal ELF/VLF magnetic field component is normal to this line. Amplitude and phase distortions in the ELF/VLF signal are absent below a frequency ⪅ 1 kHz and appear above ∼ 1 kHz. Quantitative estimates of the amplitude of the ELF/VLF signal give a value ∼0.15pT which is close to the experimentally observed value.

We present a case study of a pulsating auroral are using EISCAT incoherent scatter radar measurements of energetic electron precipitation ∼ 5–30 keV) combined with ground-based observations of auroral luminosity and magnetic pulsations. The event under consideration occurred during a magnetically quiet period on 1 February 1987 between 0:00 and 0:30 UT. Pronounced pulsations with a period of about 1 min were present in all measured quantities. The magnetic pulsations of this period exhibited in phase oscillations over the spatial scale of the EISCAT Magnetometer Cross (some 250 km in longitude and 1000 km in latitude). Spectral analysis revealed also variations of a shorter time scale of about 10 s in all measured quantities except for the flux of precipitating electrons having energies below 10 keV (above 10 keV the electron flux exhibited 10 s variations). In the framework of the cyclotron resonant interaction of electrons with whistler waves, the long period pulsations are attributed to temporal modulation of the energetic electron source. The simultaneously observed pulsations with a period of about 10 s are explained within the self-oscillating regime of the whistler cyclotron instability in the magnetosphere. We present computational results from a self-consistent instability model taking all the conjectured effects into account.

On 17 December 1990 a series magnetic impulsive events (MIEs) were observed at high latitudes near local noon. EISCAT, situated some 5 hours of MLT away from the noon sector, detected simultaneous impulsive electron density enhancements at heights between 90 and 120 km. The MIEs at noon were also associated with riometer absorption spikes. The correlated EISCAT and riometer observations indicate that there was an elongated electron precipitation region some 3000 km wide stretching from local noon to morning. In close association with the impulsive electron precipitation, VLF emissions were observed by groundbased stations in the morning side. We interpret the large scale electron precipitation and VLF emissions as signatures of a global compression of the Earth's magnetosphere. This is confirmed by the specific type of magnetic variations simultaneously recorded at the worldwide network of magnetometers. We conclude that the small scale MIEs with their drifting ionospheric current vortex structures can (but do not necessarily have to) occur in conjunction with large scale SIs. Moreover, MIEs and SIs have a common origin: the interaction of solar wind inhomogeneities with the Earth's magnetosphere. They do, however, represent different effects of the same primary agent.

[1] The EISCAT Svalbard radar (ESR) monitors plasma parameters in the ionospheric region that is frequently located near the polar cap boundary. The SuperDARN radar at Hankasalmi, Finland, detects coherent echoes from this region, and these echoes typically show increased spectral width. We consider data of joint ESR and SuperDARN observations to show that the spectral width of HF echoes tends to increase with the ionospheric electric field. This relationship is explained in terms of nonlinear evolution of the E × B gradient drift instability with energy cascade from hundreds of meter wavelengths to meter wavelengths. We assume that decameter waves (seen by the Hankasalmi radar) with relatively large amplitude decay through a three-wave interaction with shorter wavelengths and estimate that the decay time of the decameter waves/irregularities is determined by the parameters of the shorter-wavelength structures. We associate the decameter wave decay time with the correlation time, and thus the spectral width, of HF echoes.

[1] The event (24 November 2006, ∼0400–0500 UT) of the simultaneous observations of Pc5 ULF geomagnetic pulsations, electron precipitation (CNA riometer absorption), and whistler-mode chorus, as well as solar wind (SW) and IMF parameters have been analyzed based on the data from IMAGE magnetometers, Finnish riometer array, and temporal VLF station. The visible correlation between the simultaneous occurrence of several minutes scale patches of chorus and pulsating CNA enhancements was found. The dynamic spectra of the riometer data showed a maximum at ∼3.5 mHz in the first half-hour interval and at ∼2.0 mHz in the second one, while the ULF pulsation spectra exhibit these two maxima in both intervals simultaneously. In the first time interval, the Pc5 pulsations at ∼3.5 mHz demonstrated the typical FLR feature. The SW dynamic pressure fluctuations showed a broad (1.5–3.5 mHz) spectral maximum in the first interval; however, in the second one, the simultaneous oscillations at ∼2.0 mHz were observed in SW pressure and in IMF Bz. The similar ∼2.0 mHz peak has been found in the spectra of Pc5 pulsations from auroral zone to the equator, in riometer absorption, and in VLF chorus power. We suggest that the modulation of particle precipitation and whistler-mode chorus patches was caused by the 2.0 mHz compressional component of Pc5 poloidal geomagnetic pulsations driven in the magnetosphere by SW dynamic pressure and IMF Bz disturbances.

We have examined several cases of magnetosphere compression by solar wind pressure pulses using a set of instruments located in the noon sector of auroral zone. We have found that the increase in riometric absorption (sudden commencement absorption, SCA) occurred simultaneously with the beginning of negative or positive magnetic variations and broadband enhancement of magnetic activity in the frequency range above 0.1 Hz. Since magnetic variations were observed before the step-like increase of magnetic field at equatorial station (main impulse, MI), the negative declinations resembled the so-called preliminary impulse, PI. In this paper a mechanism for the generation of PI is introduced whereby PI's generation is linked to SCA – associated precipitation and the local enhancement of ionospheric conductivity leading to the reconstruction of the ionospheric current system prior to MI. Calculation showed that PI polarity depends on orientation of the background electric field and location of the observation point relative to ionospheric irregularity. For one case of direct measurements of electric field in the place where the ionospheric irregularity was present, the sign of calculated disturbance corresponded to the observed one. High-resolution measurements on IRIS facility and meridional chain of the induction magnetometers are utilized for the accurate timing of the impact of solar wind irregularity on the magnetopause.

A set of sudden increases followed by slow decay has been observed in E region electron density on December 17, 1990 using the EISCAT UHF-radar. Simultaneous photometer observations indicate that the density enhancements are caused by impulsive particle precipitation with short duration (4 ± 1 s). Effective recombination coefficient profiles in the E region are calculated from decaying electron densities using the continuity equation, and the results are compared with previous observations. It is pointed out that short-lived particle precipitation affects the ion composition in the E region and therefore the effective recombination coefficient in this situation is different from the steady-state value.

[1] On 9 January 2008, postnoon (at about 15–16 magnetic local time [MLT]) poleward moving auroral arcs were observed over Svalbard during slightly negative interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz and the IMF By gradually changing from near zero to about −3 nT. The arcs appeared from the western (dayside) horizon and developed toward the east coming to the postnoon sector. The steerable 32-m antenna of the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radar was directed at an elevation angle of 45° to the north-west at about 45° to geomagnetic west, allowing for measurement of azimuthal (along east-west) plasma flow in a range of latitudes. On the basis of this radar configuration, a new method has been developed and applied for calculating the field-aligned currents (FACs) in the vicinity of the arcs. The arcs were located in the region of the postnoon convection reversal, and the background upward FAC had a density of about 1 μA/m2. The optical arcs were of the order of 30–40 km wide and coincided with peaks of upward FAC. The return downward FAC and the southward electric field were observed poleward of the arcs. Equatorward of the arcs, secondary weaker arcs were detected so that the postnoon arcs appear to have a double structure. These features are surprisingly similar to the electric field and current patterns of morning Sun-aligned arcs. We suggest that the double arc structure can be explained by the nonlinear ionospheric feedback that results in splitting of the elongated magnetospheric plasma structures associated with the arcs.

International audience; Very Low Frequency (VLF) spectrograms show sometimes sets of lines called MLR (Magnetospheric Line Radiation) with frequency spacing close to 50 or 60 Hz. It is very tempting to attribute these MLR to Power Line Harmonic Radiation (PLHR). PLHR are the ELF and VLF waves radiated by electric power systems at the harmonic frequencies of 50 or 60 Hz. Here we show for the first time large scale MLR observed simultaneously on ground and on board a low altitude satellite which is flying over the same zone. This two hours event is observed over a large area in the Northern hemisphere ($7,400,000 km 2) and in the conjugate region. It is hypothesized that these MLR are due to PLHR propagating in the ionosphere and the magnetosphere. When they cross the equator, the PLHR undergo a nonlinear interaction with particles and may play a role in the dynamics of the radiation belts.

[1] On 13 December 2004, morningside Sun-aligned auroral arcs were observed at about 8 MLT over Svalbard (around 75 MLAT) during about 1.5 hours after the IMF Bz component had turned to strongly northward (+10 nT). The arcs appeared periodically (6.7 min) and moved poleward at a velocity of about 700 m/s. The arcs occurred during substorm recovery and appeared to develop from the area of enhanced luminosity seen in the western (nightside) horizon toward east. The electric fields and currents associated with the arcs have been calculated from the EISCAT Svalbard radar observations. The arcs were associated with periodic spatial structures of 270 km in latitudinal width. Each of the 270-km wide structure consists of four specific FAC regions: the upward FAC region 75-km wide containing the optical arc, the return downward FAC region 100-km wide poleward of the arc; and a secondary weaker arc equatorward of the main arc with a pair of FACs similar to the main arc, but narrower in width. The interchange instability with the ionospheric feedback is suggested as a suitable generation mechanism for such kind arcs.

[1] We present ground-based observations of banded structures (BS) in auroral hiss. This BS hiss was detected at Porojarvi station in Northern Finland, mainly in the local evening from 19 to 23 MLT, during magnetically quiet periods; half of all the events observed corresponded to AE < 50 nT. The structures, which resemble those observed by low-altitude satellites, can be related to the cyclotron resonant interaction of VLF waves at frequencies near the lower-hybrid resonance with suprathermal protons in the upper ionosphere and magnetosphere. The maximum probability distribution of band spacing for the events observed at Porojarvi is reached in the frequency range 200–300 Hz, which corresponds to proton gyrofrequencies at L ∼ 6 at altitudes of 4000–3000 km. We found that the BS hiss was detected in the region of evening-side downward field-aligned currents and rather intense precipitation of ions with energies 1–30 keV, detected by DMSP spacecraft. We propose that the observed BS hiss can be formed not only due to absorption at the proton gyroharmonics, as is usually assumed for similar structures observed onboard satellites, but also due to generation by energetic protons with an anisotropic velocity distribution.

[1] On 2 December 2005 a modulated X-mode ionospheric modification experiment was carried out using the Space Plasma Exploration by Active Radar (SPEAR) high power facility on Svalbard (78.15°N, 16.05°E), with the intention of artificially stimulating the Ionospheric Alfven Resonator (IAR). A modulation frequency of 3 Hz was superimposed on a 20 minute on/off cycle. Local ionograms showed an E region ionosphere of sufficient plasma density for the SPEAR beam to strongly interact with the low-altitude ionospheric plasma. The Barentsburg pulsation magnetometer monitored the resulting wave activity in the 0.5–5 Hz frequency range. Clear enhancements of the spectral power at 3 Hz were observed in the D component data, when SPEAR was transmitting and there was little natural Pc1 wave activity. During part of the interval, when high power substorm-associated Pc1 waves occurred, the polarisation of the artificially-stimulated wave rotated from the D to the H component.

[1] The EISCAT Svalbard radar (at 75° MLAT) was used to investigate the ionospheric plasma flows along auroral arcs in the 7–11 MLT sector with the radar beam directed along the L-shell. In nine cases auroral arcs appeared in the immediate vicinity of the radar beam allowing for observations of plasma flow simultaneously at different distances across the arc. In eight cases the arcs were associated with a plasma flow shear indicating sheets of upward field-aligned current (FAC) over the arcs. However, in one case the data indicate a downward net current in the region of the arc, with a flow shear and, especially, a downward FAC sheet adjoining the arc on the equatorial side. We suggest that in the downward FAC sheet, the Kelvin-Helmholtz instability can generate a series of auroral spots forming an arc, if the current sheet is co-located with a plasma boundary inside the magnetosphere.

[1] Using data from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) and the ultraviolet imager on the Polar satellite, we have earlier shown that the IMF By-related electric field can penetrate into the closed magnetosphere and produce convection changes in the region of the postnoon auroral oval [Kozlovsky et al., JGR, N12, 2002]. In such a case, contra-directed azimuthal (East–West) plasma flows should be expected in the conjugated hemispheres. In this paper we present a theoretical model, which can well explain these observations. Due to the solar wind-magnetosphere dynamo, IMF By generates a voltage between the two polar caps, so that field-aligned currents flow between the two hemispheres within some layer just equatorward of the open polar cap boundary. In this region a field-aligned potential difference (i.e., a magnetic field line discontinuity) can occur when the field-aligned current exceeds a threshold value. The IMF By-related contra-directed ionospheric plasma flows can co-exist in the northern and southern hemispheres within the region of the inter-hemispheric field-aligned currents. The latitudinal width of this region depends on the IMF By and the ionospheric conductance, and can be of the order of 1–2 degrees.

Results of simultaneous TV observations of pulsating auroral patches and ELF-VLF-emissions in the morning sector carried out in Sodankylä (Finland) on February 15, 1991 are presented. Auroral pulsating activity was typical having pulsating patches with characteristic periods of about 7 s. Narrow-band hiss emissions and chorus elements at intervals of 0.3–0.4 s formed the main ELF-VLF activity in the frequency range 1.0–2.5 kHz at the same time. The analysis of auroral images with time resolution of 0.04 s allowed perfectly separate analysis of spatial and temporal variations in the auroral luminosity. Mutual correspondence between the behaviour of the luminous auroral patches and the appearance of ELF noise type hiss emissions and VLF chorus trains was found in two intervals chosen for analysis. While the hiss emissions were associated with the appearance of luminosity inside a limited area close to the zenith, the structured VLF emissions were accompanied by rapid motion of luminosity inside the area. The spatial dimension of the pulsating area was about 45–50 km and luminosity propagated inside it with velocity of about 10–12 kms. We discuss a new approach to explain the 5–15 s auroral pulsation based on the theory of flowing cyclotron maser and relaxation characteristics of ionosphere.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (auroral phenomena; magnetosphere-ionosphere interactions) · Space plasma physics (wave-particle interactions)

The COSCAT system enables the detection of E-region auroral backscatter with the EISCAT remote receivers at magnetic aspect angles close to 90 °. This is achieved by utilising a low-power transmitter stationed in Oulu, Finland. Many important observations of E-region irregularities have been achieved with this simple experiment. Recent studies have attempted to push the COSCAT system to its experimental limits. Firstly, the CW signal has been phase-modulated with 13-bit Barker codes with baud lengths of 40, 70 and 100 µs. Interpretation of the received power allows the spatial distribution of the auroral scatterers to be determined. The second advance is in the use of a sophisticated correlator program which allows data to be buffered within the correlator at very high time resolution. This enables the coherent backscatter power to be sampled every 12.5 ms and the full auto-correlation function to be measured every 100 ms. These measurements allow the COSCAT system to be employed for the first time in an investigation of the growth and decay of the auroral irregularities.Key words. Ionosphere (ionospheric irregularities) · Radio science (Instruments and techniques)

Auroral radar measurements performed with the EISCAT facility are presented. Backscatter cross sections of the irregularities produced by the two-stream (Farley-Buneman) or gradient drift plasma instabilities have been recorded with a range separation of 1.5 km, corresponding to a spacing of successive values in height of about 0.4 km. The apparent height profiles of the backscatter have a width of about 5–6 km and occur between 95 and 112 km altitude, with a mean at 104 km. Very often, fast motions of the backscatter layers are observed which can be explained as fast moving ionospheric structures controlled by magnetospheric convection. The maximal time resolution of the measurements is 12.5 ms. The statistics of the backscatter amplitudes at this time resolution is close to a Rice distribution with a Rice parameter a ≈ 3.7. The observed backscatter spectra do not change significantly in shape when the integration time is reduced from 5 s to 100 ms.

On Jan 30. – Feb 1. 1987 a 18 hours long Finnish EISCAT experiment was made with optical and magnetic measurements. The aim of this experiment was to study pulsating auroras with high time resolution. The calculated electron densities obtained from photometer data correlate well with measured electron densities at 110 km. The electron density pulsations are observed during auroral pulsations. Also enhanced electron densities in altitude range of 85 – 100 km are observed during pulsations. This may be caused by two different Maxwellian distributions with characteristic energies of around 2 keV and 10 keV.

For lower ionosphere studies with EISCAT incoherent scatter radars there exists a sophisticated Barker-coded pulse-to-pulse correlation experiment GEN-11. It has been used widely since 1985, but so far all the effects arising from the complexity of the experiment have not been treated properly. In this paper we present a detailed description of the modulation and how it produces ambiguities to the raw data. This leads into an addition to the standard analysis procedure which removes these ambiguities. The analysis works well at altitudes from 70 km to 100 km. During a precipitation event, the obtained correlation times above 90 km are about 20% smaller than without the correction. Below 80 km the corrected correlation times can be larger by a factor of two, which has a significant effect to the estimated negative ion to electron density ratio.