Frequency-time behavior of artificially stimulated VLF emissions

Abstract

Artificially stimulated VLF emissions (ASE's) are emissions triggered in the magnetosphere by the whistler mode signals from VLF transmitters. These emissions may be separated into two classes, rising and falling, depending on whether the final value of df/dt is positive or negative. Several hundred ASE's triggered by three transmitters (NAA, Maine, 14.7 kHz, 1 MW; Omega, New York, 10.2 kHz, 100 W; Siple station, Antarctica, 5.5 kHz, 400 W) have been analyzed using the fast Fourier transform with a filter spacing of 25 Hz and an effective filter width of about 45 Hz. The study was limited to the initial frequency-time behavior of ASE's. Averages taken over many events reveal that both rising and falling tones show the same initial behavior. The emissions begin at the frequency of the triggering signal rather than at an offset frequency, as has previously been reported. Both tones initially rise in frequency, falling tones reversing slope at a point 25–300 Hz above the triggering signal. The slope of rising tones, particularly those triggered by NAA, often abruptly levels off in this same frequency range; as a result, a short (∼40 ms) plateau is formed that precedes the final rising phase. The initial frequency offset commonly observed in individual events appears to result from the frequent coincidence with this plateau of a peak in amplitude. Emissions stimulated by all three transmitters show essentially the same features; this finding indicates that their frequency behavior does not depend strongly on transmitter power. The process appears to be asymmetric in frequency; no evidence of initial growth below the triggering frequency has been found.