Field-aligned Density Irregularities Research Articles

On new two-dimensional UHF radar observations of equatorial spread F at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory

We describe a mode for two-dimensional UHF (445 MHz) radar observations of F-region irregularities using the 14-panel version of the advanced modular incoherent scatter radar (AMISR-14). We also present and discuss examples of observations made by this mode. AMISR-14 is installed at the Jicamarca Radio Observatory (JRO, 11.95°S, 76.87°W, ~ 0.5° dip latitude) in Peru and, therefore, allows studies of ionospheric irregularities at the magnetic equator. The new mode takes advantage of the electronic beam-steering capability of the system to scan the equatorial F-region in the east–west direction. Therefore, it produces two-dimensional views of the spatial distribution of sub-meter field-aligned density irregularities in the magnetic equatorial plane. The scans have a temporal resolution of 20 s and allow observations over a zonal distance of approximately 400 km at main F-region heights. While the system has a lower angular and range resolution than interferometric in-beam VHF radar imaging observations available at Jicamarca, it allows a wider field-of-view than that allowed with the VHF system. Here, we describe the mode, and present and discuss examples of observations made with the system. We also discuss implications of these observations for studies of ESF at the JRO.Graphical abstract

Linear and Nonlinear Plasma Processes in Ionospheric HF Heating

Featured observations of high frequency (HF) heating experiments are first introduced; the uniqueness of each observation is presented; the likely cause and physical process of each observed phenomenon instigated by the HF heating are discussed. A special point in the observations, revealed through the ionograms, is the competition between the Langmuir parametric instability and upper hybrid parametric instability excited in the heating experiments and the impact of the natural cusp at foE (the peak plasma frequency of the ionospheric E region) on the competition. The ionograms also infer the generation of Langmuir and upper hybrid cavitons. Ray tracing theory is formulated. With and without the appearance of large-scale field-aligned density irregularities in the background ionosphere, ray trajectories of the ordinary mode (O-mode) and extraordinary mode (X-mode) sounding pulses are calculated numerically. The results explain the artificial Spread-F recorded by the digisondes in the heating experiments. Parametric instabilities, which are the directly relevant processes to achieve effective heating of the ionospheric F region, are formulated and analyzed. The threshold fields and growth rates of Langmuir and upper hybrid parametric instabilities are derived as the theoretical basis of many radar observations and electron-plasma wave interactions. Harmonic cyclotron resonance interaction processes between electrons and upper hybrid waves are introduced. Formulation and analysis are presented. The numerical results show that ultra-energetic electrons are generated. These electrons enhance airglow at 777.4 nm as well as cause ionization. Physical processes leading to the generation of artificial ionization layers are discussed. The nonlinear Schrodinger equation governing the nonlinear evolution of Langmuir waves and upper hybrid waves are derived and solved. The nonlinear periodic and solitary solutions of the equations are obtained. The localized Langmuir and upper hybrid waves generated by the HF heater form cavitons near the HF reflection layer and near the upper hybrid resonance layer, which induce bumps in the virtual height spread of the ionogram trace similar to that induced by the density cusp at E-F1 transition layer; the down-going Langmuir waves and upper hybrid waves evolve into nonlinear periodic waves propagating along the magnetic field, which backscatter incoherently the sounding pulses to cause downward virtual height spread.

Resonance scattering of an extraordinary wave by a cylindrical density depletion in a magnetoplasma

Scattering of a normally incident extraordinary (Z mode) wave by a cylindrical density depletion aligned with an external static magnetic field in a magnetoplasma is studied. This problem is of importance for wave diagnostics of plasma density irregularities that can be formed under natural conditions of near-Earth space or during the modification of the ionosphere by high-power radio waves. The emphasis is placed on the behavior of scattering characteristics of the density depletion in the case where the frequency of the incident plane wave coincides with one of the resonant frequencies of such a plasma structure. The field patterns observed in the resonance scattering regimes are calculated and analyzed. The results obtained can be helpful in understanding the basic properties of resonance scattering of electromagnetic waves from the field-aligned density irregularities and planning the related ionospheric and laboratory experiments.

Frequency correlation of probe waves backscattered from small scale ionospheric irregularities generated by high power HF radio waves

Aspect sensitive scattering of multi-frequency probe signals by artificial, magnetic field aligned density irregularities (with transverse size ∼1–10 m) generated in the ionosphere by powerful radio waves is considered. Fluctuations of received signals depending on stochastic properties of the irregularities are calculated. It is shown that in the case of HF probe waves two mechanisms may contribute to the scattered signal fluctuations. The first one is due to the propagation of probe waves in the ionospheric plasma as in a randomly inhomogeneous medium. The second one lies in non-stationary stochastic behavior of irregularities which satisfy the Bragg conditions for the scattering geometry and therefore constitute centers of scattering. In the probe wave frequency band of the order of 10–100 MHz the second mechanism dominates which delivers opportunity to recover some properties of artificial irregularities from received signals. Correlation function of backscattered probe waves with close frequencies is calculated, and it is shown that detailed spatial distribution of irregularities along the scattering vector can be found experimentally from observations of this correlation function.

Ionospheric modifications in high frequency heating experiments

Featured observations in high-frequency (HF) heating experiments conducted at Arecibo, EISCAT, and high frequency active auroral research program are discussed. These phenomena appearing in the F region of the ionosphere include high-frequency heater enhanced plasma lines, airglow enhancement, energetic electron flux, artificial ionization layers, artificial spread-F, ionization enhancement, artificial cusp, wideband absorption, short-scale (meters) density irregularities, and stimulated electromagnetic emissions, which were observed when the O-mode HF heater waves with frequencies below foF2 were applied. The implication and associated physical mechanism of each observation are discussed and explained. It is shown that these phenomena caused by the HF heating are all ascribed directly or indirectly to the excitation of parametric instabilities which instigate anomalous heating. Formulation and analysis of parametric instabilities are presented. The results show that oscillating two stream instability and parametric decay instability can be excited by the O-mode HF heater waves, transmitted from all three heating facilities, in the regions near the HF reflection height and near the upper hybrid resonance layer. The excited Langmuir waves, upper hybrid waves, ion acoustic waves, lower hybrid waves, and field-aligned density irregularities set off subsequent wave-wave and wave-electron interactions, giving rise to the observed phenomena.

Incidence angle dependence of Langmuir turbulence and artificial ionospheric layers driven by high-power HF-heating

We have numerically investigated the development of strong Langmuir turbulence (SLT) and associated electron acceleration at different angles of incidence of ordinary (O) mode pump waves. For angles of incidence within the Spitze cone, the turbulence initially develops within the first maximum of the Airy pattern near the plasma resonance altitude. After a few milliseconds, the turbulent layer shifts downwards by about 1 km. For injections outside the Spitze region, the turning point of the pump wave is at lower altitudes. Yet, an Airy-like pattern forms here, and the turbulence development is quite similar to that for injections within the Spitze. SLT leads to the acceleration of 10–20 eV electrons that ionize the neutral gas thereby creating artificial ionospheric layers. Our numerical modeling shows that most efficient electron acceleration and ionization occur at angles between the magnetic and geographic zenith, where SLT dominates over weak turbulence. Possible effects of the focusing of the electromagnetic beam on magnetic field-aligned density irregularities and the finite heating beam width at the magnetic zenith are also discussed. The results have relevance to ionospheric heating experiments using ground-based, high-power radio transmitters to heat the overhead plasma, where recent observations of artificial ionization layers have been made.

Modeling the propagation of whistler-mode waves in the presence of field-aligned density irregularities

We present a numerical study of propagation of VLF whistler-mode waves in a laboratory plasma. Our goal is to understand whistler propagation in magnetic field-aligned irregularities (also called channels or ducts). Two cases are examined, that of a high-frequency (ω>Ωce/2) whistler in a density depletion duct and that of a low-frequency (ω<Ωce/2) whistler in a density enhancement. Results from a numerical simulation of whistler wave propagation are compared to data from the UCLA Los Angeles Physics Teachers Alliance Group plasma device and whistler propagation in pre-existing density depletion and density enhancement ducts is demonstrated.

Magnetospherically reflected, specularly reflected, and backscattered whistler mode radio-sounder echoes observed on the IMAGE satellite: 1. Observations and interpretation

[1] A survey of echoes detected in 2004–2005 during pulse transmissions from the Radio Plasma Imager (RPI) instrument on the IMAGE satellite has revealed several new features of sounder generated whistler mode (WM) echoes and has indicated ways in which the echoes may be used for remote sensing of the Earth's plasma structure at altitudes <5000 km. In this paper we describe the frequency versus travel time (f − t) forms of the WM echoes as they appear on RPI plasmagrams and discuss qualitatively their raypaths and diagnostic potentials. Based on their reflection mechanism, the WM echoes can be classified as: magnetospherically reflected (MR), specularly reflected (SR), or backscattered (BS). The MR echoes are reflected at altitudes where the local lower hybrid frequency (flh) is equal to the transmitted pulse frequency f, a phenomenon familiar from both theory and passive recordings of WM wave activity. The SR echoes (previously reported in a higher frequency range) are reflected at the Earth-ionosphere boundary, either with wave vector at normal incidence or, more commonly (and unexpectedly, due to ray bending in the layered ionosphere), at oblique incidence. The BS echoes are the result of scattering from small scale size plasma density irregularities close to IMAGE. The echoes are described as discrete, multipath, and diffuse, depending upon the amount of travel-time spreading caused by the presence of field aligned density irregularities (FAIs) along echo raypaths. The WM echoes described in this paper have been observed at altitudes less than 5,000 km and at all latitudes and at most MLTs. The diagnostic potential of these phenomena for remotely studying the distribution of plasma density and composition along the geomagnetic field line B0, as well as the presence of FAIs of varying scale sizes, is enhanced by the tendency for SR and MR echoes to be observed simultaneously along with the upward propagating signals from a spatial distribution of communication VLF transmitters. We believe that our findings about WM propagation and echoing in an irregular medium have important implications for the connection between WM waves and the Earth's radiation belts. In a companion paper by Sonwalkar et al. (2011), we employ ray tracing and refractive index diagrams in quantitative support of this paper and also present two diagnostic case studies of plasma density, ion effective mass, and ion composition along B0.

X‐mode suppression of artificial E region field‐aligned plasma density irregularities

Ionospheric modification experiments have been performed at the High frequency Active Auroral Research Program involving the creation and suppression of artificial field‐aligned density irregularities (AFAIs) using O‐mode and X‐mode continuous wave emissions, respectively. The emission frequencies were offset so that the O‐mode upper hybrid interaction height nearly matched the X‐mode reflection height in the ionospheric E region. AFAIs created by O‐mode heating were observed using a 30 MHz coherent scatter radar imager. Simultaneous X‐mode heating was found to suppress the AFAI intensity and increase the threshold power for excitation by approximately a factor of 5 in our experiments. The effects are attributed in part to the broadening of the upper hybrid interaction region and in part to increased O‐mode absorption, which reduces the amplitude of the standing wave pattern in that region. Preliminary estimates based on local calculations suggest that the electron temperature in the E region was increased by a factor of about 1.6 in these experiments.

Coordinated sporadic E layer observations made with Chung-Li 30 MHz radar, ionosonde and FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellites

A nighttime sporadic E (Es) layer responsible for range spread Es trace in ionogram and quasi-periodic echoes scattered from 5-m field-aligned electron density irregularities (FAIs) is investigated by using a ground-based 30 MHz coherent scatter radar, ionosonde and FORMOSAT-3/COSMIC satellite. A comparison shows a positive correlation between the 30 MHz radar backscatter and critical frequency foEs of the Es trace, which are consistent with earlier observational results. Interferometry measurement indicates that the spatial patterns of the radar echoes from the FAIs were in patchy form with vertical extent of about a few kilometers and horizontal dimensions of about 10–20 km. The echo structures experienced quasi-periodic oscillations not only in vertical but also in horizontal directions with periods of approximately 5–6 min. Observed Doppler velocities of the FAIs also exhibited quasi-periodic oscillations with the same periods. From their downward phase movement, these oscillations were very likely attributed to the modulations of upward propagating gravity waves with vertical wavelengths of about 10–20 km. In addition, vertical shears of the FAI Doppler velocity were observed, which are believed to result from the change in the phase of gravity wave with height. A physical process is proposed in this article to account for the relation between gravity wave-perturbed neutral wind and height variation of the FAI Doppler velocity. It is believed that the oscillations in the Doppler velocity profiles are associated with the wave-induced polarization electric fields in a finite plasma structure in the azimuth direction.

Simultaneous generation of large‐scale density irregularities and geomagnetic pulsations via filamentation instability

Results of experiment conducted at Gakona, Alaska, using intensity‐modulated HF heating waves of 3.2 MHz to generate geomagnetic pulsations and large‐scale field‐aligned density irregularities (FAI), are reported. The echo traces of o‐ and x‐mode sounding pulses from 3.53 to 4 MHz were recorded during heater on/off periods. The ionograms showed that only x‐mode echo traces were significantly affected by the HF heater. The returns from 3.53 to ∼3.8 MHz disappeared during heater on period and reappeared after heater was turned off. Ray tracings are performed to explore the effect of FAI on the backscattering of o‐ and x‐mode sounding pulses. The drastic difference between the FAI effects on o‐ and x‐mode backscattering trajectories provides a theoretical interpretation of the observation. Geomagnetic pulsations as large as 2.5 nT were also recorded by a Fluxgate Magnetometer. Thermal filamentation of the HF heater leads to the simultaneous generation of FAI and geomagnetic pulsations.

Chung Park, pioneer of magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling research

Chung Park (1938–2003) was a true pioneer of magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling research. During a short career at Stanford University that began in 1970 and ended in 1981, he wrote seminal papers on several topics. Using ground-based whistler data, he was the first to demonstrate experimentally that day-side upward ion flow from the mid-latitude ionosphere was sufficient to maintain the night-time ionosphere. He made the only measurements to date of longitudinally localized drainage of significant quantities of plasmaspheric plasma into the underlying ionosphere during a period of enhanced convection activity. He pioneered in demonstrating the presence at ionospheric heights of geophysically important electric fields that originate in the troposphere in thunderstorm centers. He cooperated in a unique study of the guidance of whistler-mode waves by field-aligned density irregularities (ducts) in the magnetosphere. Park provided unique observational data on nonlinear wave–particle interaction processes such as: (i) the development of sidebands during the injection of whistler-mode waves from Siple, Antarctica, and (ii) the mysterious whistler precursor phenomenon. Today, in spite of the several decades that have elapsed since his work, Park's early findings remain cornerstones of our understanding of magnetosphere–ionosphere coupling processes. Some of his later studies of non-linear magnetospheric wave–particle interaction phenomena have stirred lively debate, and today remain relevant to a number of topics in space plasma wave research.

Saturation and hysteresis effects in ionospheric modification experiments observed by the CUTLASS and EISCAT radars

Abstract. The results of high latitude ionospheric modification experiments utilising the EISCAT heating facility at Tromsø are presented. As a result of the interaction between the high power pump waves and upper hybrid waves in the ionosphere, field-aligned electron density irregularities are artificially excited. Observations of these structures with the CUTLASS coherent HF radars and the EISCAT incoherent UHF radar exhibit hysteresis effects as the heater output power is varied. These are explained in terms of the two-stage mechanism which leads to the growth of the irregularities. Experiments which involve preconditioning of the ionosphere also indicate that hysteresis could be exploited to maximise the intensity of the field-aligned irregularities, especially where the available heater power is limited. In addition, the saturation of the irregularity amplitude is considered. Although, the rate of irregularity growth becomes less rapid at high heater powers it does not seem to fully saturate, indicating that the amplification would continue beyond the capabilities of the Tromsø heater - currently the most powerful of its kind. It is shown that the CUTLASS radars are sensitive to irregularities produced by very low heater powers (effective radiated powers &lt;4 MW). This fact is discussed from the perspective of a new heating facility, SPEAR, located on Spitzbergen and capable of transmitting high frequency radio waves with an effective radiated power ~10% of that of the Tromsø heater (28MW).

On parametric instabilities in HF heating of the ionosphere

The initial processes excited directly by high-frequency (HF) heating waves include parametric decay instabilities, which decay the HF heating wave to a frequency-downshifted Langmuir/upper hybrid sideband together with an ion acoustic/lower hybrid wave as the decay mode, and oscillating two stream instabilities, which decay the HF heating wave to two oppositely propagating Langmuir/upper hybrid sidebands and purely growing mode/field-aligned density irregularities. These instabilities provide effective channels to convert heating waves to electrostatic plasma waves in the F region of the ionosphere. The following-up parametric instabilities include the cascades of Langmuir pump waves into Langmuir sidebands and ion acoustic waves/lower hybrid waves, and the decay of upper hybrid waves to Langmuir sidebands and ion decay modes, as well as the filamentation of those HF electrostatic waves to generate field-aligned density irregularities. The instability thresholds, growth rates, angular distribution and regions of excitation are determined.

On the generation of a broad downshifted spectrum of HF wave enhanced plasma lines in the ionospheric heating experiments

Generation of a broad downshifted spectrum of HF wave enhanced plasma Lines (HFPLs) in ionospheric heating experiments is explored. Langmuir waves are first excited within a cone around the geomagnetic field by the HF wave, in the region near its reflection height, through the oscillating two stream instability (OTSI). These Langmuir waves then cascade through a secondary parametric instability, whereby an obliquely propagating Langmuir pump wave decays into an obliquely propagating Langmuir sideband and a lower hybrid decay mode, which propagates in a direction perpendicular to the Langmuir pump wave. The excited Langmuir sidebands have a broad downshifted frequency spectrum and large propagation angles. Their propagation angles are further widened via the filamentation instability or scattering off short‐scale field‐aligned density irregularities. Thus they become detectable by backscatter radars as HFPLs with a broad downshifted frequency spectrum. The results of our analysis show that it requires HF field amplitude of 3.6 V/m to cascade the OTSI‐excited Langmuir waves, for example, 8 times to produce a downshifted spectral width of 50 KHz in the Arecibo heating experiments.

Evidence for the stimulation of field-aligned electron density irregularities on a short time scale by ionospheric topside sounders

Abstract Ionospheric topside sounders can be considered to act as mobile ionospheric heating facilities. They stimulate a wide variety of plasma phenomena that suggests that significant plasma heating can be produced in the vicinity of the spacecraft following the short duration (0.1 ms) high-power (hundreds of watts) sounder pulse. Most of these phenomena are sensitive to the ambient plasma conditions, particularly to the ratio of the plasma frequency ƒ N to the gyro frequency ƒ H . Certain stimulated phenomena only occur, or are greatly enhanced, when ƒ N ƒ H ≅ n where n is an integer. One example is a diffuse signal return that appears at a frequency just above the Z mode wave cutoff frequency ƒ Z (the L = 0 condition in the notation of Stix). This signal, which is the subject of the present paper, is present only for moderately large near-integer values for ƒ N ƒ H (e.g., n > 3). It is a relatively short-duration echo—usually less than about 10 ms. These characteristics are quite different from the Z mode echoes often observed between ƒ H or ƒ N (whichever is greater) and the upper hybrid frequency ƒ T . These latter echoes occur for smaller values (not necessarily near-integer values) of ƒ N ƒ H and are received during the entire 30 ms listening time period following the sounder pulse. They have been attributed to the scattering of sounder Z mode signals from naturally occurring electron density fieldaligned irregularities (FAI). The short-duration echoes observed just above ƒ Z , on the other hand, are here attributed to the ducting of sounder-generated Z mode waves in sounder-stimulated (or sounderenhanced) FAI. These FAI are believed to be generated (or enhanced) on a very short time scale (⪡ 1 s) by the efficient absorption of sounder energy when the plasma/gyro frequency ratio is nearly an integer value significantly greater than one. The most likely generation process is the filamentation instability driven by the ponderomotive force due to the high-power sounder pulse.

Parametric instability producing broad symmetrical structure in the spectrum of ionospheric heating-induced radiation

A four-wave interaction process in which an O-mode electromagnetic pump decays parametrically into a lower hybrid decay mode and two-electron Bernstein sidebands is analyzed. It is shown that the instability can be excited in a spatial region near the electron Bernstein/upper hybrid double resonance and in a narrow pump frequency range slightly below the third harmonic electron cyclotron resonance. The two electron Bernstein sidebands have about the same intensity and thus, produce Broad Symmetrical Structure (BSS) in the emission spectrum after being converted into electromagnetic radiation by scattering off background field-aligned density irregularities. The results also show that the size of the instability zone becomes very small as the pump frequency operates near a cyclotron harmonic higher than the third. Thus, the converted emission will be too weak to be detected. This explains why the BSS feature in the spectrum of stimulated electromagnetic emissions (SEEs) has only been observed in the third harmonic case.

Small-scale magnetic field-aligned density irregularities excited by a powerful electromagnetic wave

A set of equations describing the evolution of diffusive plasma density and temperature perturbations, and upper hybrid waves, coupled by a dipole electromagnetic pump field is derived. For the first time, instability from infinitesimal perturbations (soft excitation) and instability from a finite level of perturbations (hard excitation) are contained in the same model. Conditions for the formation of density irregularities and the irregularity spectrum in the nonlinearly stabilized instability state in the different excitation regimes are discussed. The results are of relevance for the small-scale magnetic field-aligned irregularities and a number of associated phenomena observed to be excited by a powerful high frequency electromagnetic wave transmitted into the ionospheric plasma.

Radio interferometer observations of solar wind turbulence from the orbit of HELIOS to the solar corona

We report observations of Very Long Baseline Interferometer (VLBI) phase scintillations due to turbulence in the solar wind. The observations were made at 5.00 and 8.42 GHz with the Very Long Baseline Array (VLBA) on three dates in 1991 July and August. We observed the sources 0851 + 202 and 0735 + 178 at solar elongations ranging from 2.66 deg to 13.29 deg; the closest approach of the line of sight to the Sun ranged from 10 to 49.8 solar radii. We have also included previously unpublished 5 GHz VLBI phase scintillation measurements from 1989. These measurements probe solar wind density fluctuations on spatial scales from about 200 km to 2000 km. Our measurements are in quite good agreement with the Coles & Harmon model for the radio phase structure function, which was largely determined from observations on both shorter and larger spatial scales. Departures from the Coles & Harmon functions are attributable to day-to-day variations in the solar wind conditions. Phase scintillations at the greatest solar elongations are in very good agreement with extrapolated estimates from direct measurements made with the Helios spacecraft at slightly larger heliocentric distances. Thus there is a consistency between the in-situ spacecraft and radio sensing measurements of density turbulence. All of the VLBI data are consistent with a Kolmogorov spectrum for the density fluctuations, although at the closest elongations there may be excess power at small spatial scales. An advantage of interferometric techniques over other radio propagation measurements is that they provide a measure of the anisotropy of the irregularities. Our observations at closest approach (10 solar radii) show weak evidence for anisotropic, field-aligned density irregularities with an axial ratio of order 2. This degree of anisotropy would appear to be less than that measured at similar solar elongations but on smaller spatial scales by Armstrong and colleagues. Finally, a combination of the radio propagation data and in situ Helios measurements is used to determine the heliocentric distance dependence of the normalization coefficient of the density power spectrum, C(sup 2)(sub N). Modeling C(sup2)(sub N) varies as (R/solar radii)(sup -Kappa), we find Kappa = 3.72 +/- 0.30. Subject to a number of assumptions, this result is consistent with the conclusion of D. A. Roberts that turbulence within 0.28 astronomical units adheres to a WKB formula for turbulence amplitude as a function of heliocentric distance.

Magnetospheric chorus: Occurrence patterns and normalized frequency

New characteristics of VLF chorus in the outer magnetosphere are reported. The study is based on more than 400 hours of broadband (0.3–12.5 kHz) data collected by the Stanford University/Stanford Research Institute VLF experiment on OGO 3 during 1966–1967. Bandlimited emissions constitute the dominant form of whistler-mode radiation in the region 4⪝ L⪝ 10. Magnetospheric chorus occurs mainly from 0300 to 1500 LT, at higher L at noon than at dawn, and moves to lower L during geomagnetic disturbance, in accord with ground observations of VLF chorus. Occurrence is moderate near the equator, lower near 15°, and maximum at high latitudes (far down the field lines). The centre frequency ƒ of the chorus band varies as L −3> and at low latitudes is closely related to the electron gyrofrequency on the dipole field line through the satellite. Based on the measured local gyrofrequency ƒ H , the normalized frequency distribution of chorus observed within 10° of the dipole equator shows two peaks, at ƒ ƒ H ≅ 0.53 and ƒ ƒ H ≅ 0.34 . This bimodal distribution is a persistent statistical feature of near equatorial chorus, independent of L, LT and K p. However there is considerable variability in individual events, with chorus often observed above, below, and between these statistical peaks; in particular, it is not unusual for single emissions to cross ƒ ƒ H = 0.50 . When two bands are simultaneously present individual emission elements only rarely show one-to-one correlation between bands. For low K p the median bandwidth of the upper band, gap and lower band are all ∼16% of their centre frequencies, independent of L; for higher K p the bandwidth of the lower band increases. Bandwidth also increases with latitude beyond ~10°. Starting frequencies of narrowband emissions range throughout the band. The majority of the emissions rise in frequency at a rate between 0.2 and 2.0 kHz/sec; this rate increases with K p and decreases with L. Falling tones are rarely observed at dipole latitudes <2.5°. The observations are interpreted in terms of whistler-mode propagation theory and a gyroresonant feedback interaction model. An exact expression is derived for the critical frequency, ƒ ƒ H ≅ 0.5 , at which the curvature of the refractive index surface vanishes at zero wave normal angle. Near this frequency rays with initial wave normal angles between 0° and −20° are focused along the initial field line for thousands of km, enhancing the phase-bunching of incoming gyroresonant electrons. The upper peak in the bimodal normalized frequency distribution is attributed to this enhancement near the critical frequency, at latitudes of ~5°. Slightly below the critical frequency interference between modes with different ray velocities may contribute to the dip in the bimodal distribution. The lower peak may reflect a corresponding peak in the resonant electron distribution, or guiding in field-aligned density irregularities. The observations are consistent with gyroresonant generation of emissions near the equator, followed by spreading of the radiation over a range of L shells farther down the field lines.