Publication Date:
2011-08-16
Description:
Ion effects are often observed on topside-sounder-stimulated electron plasma wave phenomena and the present study is concerned with the spur effect relative to electron plasma resonance. A spur appears after a time delay corresponding to the proton gyroperiod and is observed mainly on the resonances at the electron plasma frequency and the harmonics of the electron cyclotron frequency. Proton spurs occur at the harmonic resonances only, when the electron plasma waves associated with these resonances are susceptible to the Harris instability and when the electromagnetic wave can be initiated by the sounder pulse. This instability results from a sounder-stimulated anisotropic electron velocity distribution. The observations suggest that energy is fed into the harmonics of the longitudinal plasma wave from the electromagnetic wave through wave-mode coupling. The observations were made during eight passes of the Alouette-2 satellite.
Keywords:
GEOPHYSICS
Type:
Radio Science; 10; Feb. 197
Format:
text
