Electron precipitation patterns in the vicinity of a vlf transmitter. Technical report

Technical Report · Sun Dec 15 04:00:00 EST 1985

OSTI ID:5728010

Vampola, A L

Using high-resolution pitch-angle measurements made by a magnetic-focusing electron spectrometer on the S3-3 satellite, angular distributions of 235-keV electrons precipitated by a ground-based VLF transmitter are compared with the pitch-angle distributions that would be produced by various patterns of longitudinal interaction regions. The observed electrons are in the drift loss cone, necessitating the use of a trace-back-to-longitude-of-origin technique coupled with a two-dimensional convolution program describing the response of the electron spectrometer. The data are well-fit with both theoretical calculations of ionospheric field intensity patterns above a transmitter and with a similar pattern of received field intensities measured along a traverse in the conjugate region. The agreement between the data and field patterns implies a linear or quasi-linear wave-particle interaction. The energy-frequency relationship between the electrons and the waves implies an interaction region low on the magnetic field line, perhaps near or at the unperturbed mirror point.

• Research Organization: Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA (USA). Space Sciences Lab.
• OSTI ID: 5728010
• Report Number(s): AD-A-163716/4/XAB; TR-0086(6940-05)-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640201 -- Atmospheric Physics-- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena
640203* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (-1987)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
CHARGED-PARTICLE PRECIPITATION
DIMENSIONS
DISTRIBUTION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
ELECTROMAGNETIC RADIATION
ELECTRON PRECIPITATION
ELECTRON SPECTROSCOPY
FOCUSING
GROUND LEVEL
INTERACTIONS
IONOSPHERE
LENGTH
LEVELS
LONG WAVE RADIATION
LOSS CONE
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
RADIATIONS
RADIOWAVE RADIATION
SPECTROSCOPY