Spectral Properties of Whistler‐Mode Waves in the Vicinity of the Moon: A Statistical Study With ARTEMIS

Abstract

AbstractWe present statistical analyses of whistler‐mode waves observed by Acceleration, Reconnection, and Turbulence and Electrodynamics of the Moon's Interaction with the Sun (ARTEMIS). Although some observations showed that the lunar whistler‐mode waves have similarities to the terrestrial chorus emissions, it remains unknown whether the banded structure typically seen in chorus is common to the lunar waves. In this study, we automatically detected whistler‐mode waves from 9 years of ARTEMIS data and classified them into four types of spectral shapes: lower band only, upper band only, banded, and no‐gap. We first show that a magnetic connection to the lunar surface is a dominant factor in the wave generation. The occurrence rate of whistler‐mode waves is 10 times larger on the magnetic field line connected to the Moon. Then we compared the field line connected events according to the position of the Moon and the condition of the field‐line foot point (day/night and existence of magnetic anomalies). The results show that (a) almost no banded event is observed in any circumstances, suggesting that generation mechanisms for the two band structure of the terrestrial chorus are largely ineffective around the Moon and (b) the wave occurrence rate depends on the foot point conditions, presumably affected by electrostatic/magnetic reflections deforming the velocity distribution of the resonant electrons. Thus, our results provide implications for the two band structure formation and new insights into fundamental processes of the Moon‐plasma interaction.