The trapping of equatorial magnetosonic waves in the Earth's outer plasmasphere

C. A Kletzing; Q Ma; W Li; W. S Kurth; L Chen; G. B Hospodarsky; R. M Thorne; G. D Reeves; M. G Henderson; H. E Spence

doi:10.1002/2014GL061414

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The trapping of equatorial magnetosonic waves in the Earth's outer plasmasphere

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The trapping of equatorial magnetosonic waves in the Earth's outer plasmasphere

C. A Kletzing, Q Ma, W Li, W. S Kurth, L Chen, G. B Hospodarsky, R. M Thorne, G. D Reeves, M. G Henderson and H. E Spence

Geophysical research letters, Vol.41(18), pp.6307-6313

09/28/2014

DOI: 10.1002/2014GL061414

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Abstract

We investigate the excitation and propagation of equatorial magnetosonic waves observed by the Van Allen Probes and describe evidence for a trapping mechanism for magnetosonic waves in the Earth's plasmasphere. Intense equatorial magnetosonic waves were observed inside the plasmasphere in association with a pronounced proton ring distribution, which provides free energy for wave excitation. Instability analysis along the inbound orbit demonstrates that broadband magnetosonic waves can be excited over a localized spatial region near the plasmapause. The waves can subsequently propagate into the inner plasmasphere and remain trapped over a limited radial extent, consistent with the predictions of near‐perpendicular propagation. By performing a similar analysis on another observed magnetosonic wave event, we demonstrate that magnetosonic waves can also be trapped within local density structures. We suggest that perpendicular wave propagation is important for explaining the presence of magnetosonic waves in the Earth's plasmasphere at locations away from the generation region. Key Points Magnetosonic waves are excited by ion ring distributions near the plasmapauseMagnetosonic waves are trapped in a limited radial region in the plasmasphereMagnetosonic waves are modulated by local density structures

magnetosonic waves

Van Allen Probes observation

wave excitation

wave propagation

Details

Title: Subtitle: The trapping of equatorial magnetosonic waves in the Earth's outer plasmasphere
Creators: C. A Kletzing - University of Iowa
Q Ma - University of California, Los Angeles
W Li - University of California, Los Angeles
W. S Kurth - University of Iowa
L Chen - University of Texas at Dallas
G. B Hospodarsky - University of Iowa
R. M Thorne - University of California, Los Angeles
G. D Reeves - Los Alamos National Laboratory
M. G Henderson - Los Alamos National Laboratory
H. E Spence - University of New Hampshire
Resource Type: Journal article
Publication Details: Geophysical research letters, Vol.41(18), pp.6307-6313
DOI: 10.1002/2014GL061414
ISSN: 0094-8276
eISSN: 1944-8007
Number of pages: 7
Grant note: NASA (NNX11AR64G) NSF (AGS 1405041; 1405054)
Language: English
Date published: 09/28/2014
Academic Unit: Physics and Astronomy
Record Identifier: 9984199685602771

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