Whistler‐mode wave interactions with ionospheric plasmas over Arecibo

Abstract

The Naval transmitter, code‐named NAU, in Puerto Rico emits radio waves at a power and frequency of 100 kW and 40.75 kHz, respectively. The NAU‐generated 40.75 kHz whistler‐mode waves are intense enough to excite lower hybrid waves and zero‐frequency field‐aligned ionospheric irregularities over Arecibo. It is proposed that NAU is responsible for causing the enhanced plasma lines, detected by the Arecibo 430 MHz radar in the nighttime ionosphere F region, in the presence of spread F events. The lower hybrid waves, generated in a broad range of altitudes at the wake of 40.75 kHz whistler‐mode waves, have a single frequency of 40.75 kHz but with a spectrum of wavelengths. They can effectively accelerate electrons continuously along the Earth's magnetic field with energies from a fraction of 1 eV to 10 eV. These energetic streaming electrons, when detected by the Arecibo 430 MHz radar, give rise to enhanced plasma lines with a frequency spectrum of ∼3.25–4.75 MHz.