Post Midnight Research Articles

Rotation, bifurcation and merging of medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances over a low-mid latitude transition region

This paper reports the observation of propagating wave structures in OI 630.0 nm airglow images captured by a CCD imager at Kashmir University (KU), Srinagar, India (34.1 °N, 74.8 °E, and 25.9 °N magnetic latitude). These structures were detected on the night of August 17th, 2017, with an average horizontal wavelength around 330 km and average phase velocities around 92 m/s traveling in southwest (SW) direction. The SW moving wave patterns had north-west (NW) to south-east (SE) aligned phase fronts that lasted for ∼150 min and had a time period of about 1 h. Based on observed parameters such as wavelength, time span, and propagating speed, these structures are categorized as nighttime medium-scale traveling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs). The observed southwestward movement, phase speed, horizontal wavelength and period of these nighttime MSTIDs are consistent with the existing literature. The appearance of gravity waves in the lower atmosphere during this night means that gravity waves from below, in combination with the Perkins' instability, might be responsible candidates for generation of these MSTIDs. Near midnight the MSTID bands are seen to rotate, bifurcate and some even merging with other bands giving rise to some unique Y-shaped MSTID structures-the first such results observed from this location. These structures align along North-South direction and move westward unlike the MSTID bands before midnight which move towards southwest. In addition, we also report the shrinking phenomena of the post midnight MSTID dark bands.

Analysis of the long lasting events of ionospheric irregularities near the equatorial region of East Asia based on various observations

Using the ground-based multi instruments observations in Hainan and Southeast Asia, as well as space-based observations, the long lasting events of ionospheric irregularities occurred in the equatorial region of East Asia on the night of March 31, 2014 are studied. Concurrent observations at Hainan station indicate that ionospheric irregularities measured with different instruments showed distinct spatial structures and temporal variation, mainly from sunset to midnight (19-23LT) and even to post midnight. The 3-m-scale irregularities detected by VHF radar first attenuated and disappeared at 01LT, then the 400-meter-scale irregularities (GPS scintillations) vanished at 03LT, and finally the larger-scale irregularities (spread F) ended at 05LT. It provides a directly observational evidence that the larger the scale is, the latter the irregularities decay after midnight. Ionospheric irregularities near the magnetic equator (ME) and the equatorial abnormal peaks (EAPs) mainly occurred from after sunset to midnight (19-01LT), but there were distinct morphological differences after midnight. The irregularities near ME were attenuated and disappeared rapidly, while irregularities near EAPs weakened obviously, but lasted until dawn. The plasma depletions observed by the SWARM satellite in the latter half of the night were clearly related to the TEC fluctuations at JOG2 site, the ionospheric scintillations and spread F at Hainan station. The quasiperiodic structures of plasma bubbles observed by C/NOFS satellite were clearly related to the occurrence of ionospheric irregularities in Hainan and Southeast Asia, which indicated that the seeding of atmospheric gravity waves may play an important role in the generation of ESF/EPB irregularities, even in the latter half of the night.

Analysis of a grid ionospheric vertical delay and its bounding errors over West African sub-Saharan region

Investigating the effects of the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA) ionosphere and space weather on Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) is very crucial, and a key to successful implementation of a GNSS augmentation system (SBAS) over the equatorial and low-latitude regions. A possible ionospheric vertical delay (GIVD, Grid Ionospheric Vertical Delay) broadcast at a Ionospheric Grid Point (IGP) and its confidence bounds errors (GIVE, Grid Ionospheric Vertical Error) are analyzed and compared with the ionospheric vertical delay estimated at a nearby user location over the West African Sub-Saharan region. Since African sub-Saharan ionosphere falls within the EIA region, which is always characterized by a disturbance in form of irregularities after sunset, and the disturbance is even more during the geomagnetically quiet conditions unlike middle latitudes, the need to have a reliable ionospheric threat model to cater for the nighttime ionospheric plasma irregularities for the future SBAS user is essential. The study was done during the most quiet and disturbed geomagnetic conditions on October 2013. A specific low latitude EGNOS-like algorithm, based on single thin layer model, was engaged to simulate SBAS message in the study. Our preliminary results indicate that, the estimated GIVE detects and protects a potential SBAS user against sampled ionospheric plasma irregularities over the region with a steep increment in GIVE to non-monitored after local sunset to post midnight. This corresponds to the onset of the usual ionospheric plasma irregularities in the region. The results further confirm that the effects of the geomagnetic storms on the ionosphere are not consistent in affecting GNSS applications over the region. Finally, this paper suggests further work to be investigated in order to improve the threat integrity model activity, and thereby enhance the availability of the future SBAS over African sub-Saharan region.

Dependence of Coherence Scales of Ionospheric Scintillation Patterns on Magnetic Activity

The amplitude scintillation data, recorded at 251 MHz by two spaced receivers at low latitude station Kolhapur [16.42oN, 74.2oE] are used. We have considered data of magnetically disturbed days (Ap > 20) to investigate the effect of magnetic activity on the ionospheric irregularities by observing the coherence scales of the scintillation pattern produced by the irregularities. The coherence scales are calculated using the method introduced by Bhattacharyya et al. (2003). Coherence scale lengths on magnetically disturbed days are higher than that of on quiet days. During magnetically disturbed period the coherence scales in the post midnight period are greater than that of in the pre midnight period. This suggests that magnetospheric electric field generated in storm time causes increase in coherence scales but shows large increase after midnight.

A statistical analysis of occurrence characteristics of Spread-F irregularities over Indian region

We investigate the regularities of a change in Spread-F F probability during day-to-day, under varying solar variability, latitudinal behavior and their response to geomagnetic storm in equatorial and low-mid latitude stations. The occurrence characteristics of Spread-F irregularities, is obtained from daily hourly ionosonde data from a low-mid latitude station, Delhi (28.6°N, 77.2°E), for more than half a solar cycle (2001 to 2007). The latitudinal behavior of Spread-F is studied using ionosonde data from anomaly crest station, Ahmedabad (23.01°N, 72.36°E) and equatorial station, Kodaikanal (10.2°N, 77.5°E) for low, moderate and high solar activity periods. The maximum percentage occurrences of Spread-F were observed during the low solar activity year 2007, we believe, the low plasma and neutral density during 23/24 solar cycle minimum could be an important factor leading to the generation and propagation of TIDs and gravity waves. An anti-solar activity correlation to Spread-F occurrence is reported during all the seasons at different stations which are because of instability generated by the trans-equatorial meridional winds. There is a substantial variation during pre and post midnight hours in F region height from equatorial to low latitudes in response to magnetic disturbances. Concurrence was observed in the occurrence time of Spread-F to different storm events during different storm phases. The established irregularities and their behavior in Indian region are qualitatively interpreted and discussed.

Low latitude ionospheric scintillation and zonal irregularity drifts observed with GPS-SCINDA system and closely spaced VHF receivers in Kenya

In this study we have used VHF and GPS-SCINDA receivers located at Nairobi (36.8°E, 1.3°S, dip −24.1°) in Kenya, to investigate the ionospheric scintillation and zonal drift irregularities of a few hundred meter-scale irregularities associated with equatorial plasma density bubbles for the period 2011. From simultaneous observations of amplitude scintillation at VHF and L-band frequencies, it is evident that the scintillation activity is higher during the post sunset hours of the equinoctial months than at the solstice. While it is noted that there is practically no signatures of the L-band scintillation in solstice months (June, July, December, January) and after midnight, VHF scintillation does occur in the solstice months and show post midnight activity through all the seasons. VHF scintillation is characterized by long duration of activity and slow fading that lasts till early morning hours (05:00LT). Equinoctial asymmetry in scintillation occurs with higher occurrence in March–April than in September–October. The occurrence of post midnight VHF scintillation in this region is unusual and suggests some mechanisms for the formation of scintillation structure that might not be clearly understood. Zonal drift velocities of irregularities were measured using cross-correlation analysis with time series of the VHF scintillation structure from two closely spaced antennas. Statistical analyses of the distribution of zonal drift velocities after sunset hours indicate that the range of the velocities is 30–160m/s. This is the first analysis of the zonal plasma drift velocity over this region. Based on these results we suggest that the east–west component of the plasma drift velocity may be related to the evolution of plasma bubble irregularities caused by the prereversal enhancement of the eastward electric fields. The equinoctial asymmetry of the drift velocities and scintillation could be attributed to the asymmetry of neutral winds in the thermosphere that drives the eastward electric fields.

Nighttime enhancements in TEC near the crest of northern equatorial ionization anomaly during low solar activity period

Enhancement in nighttime total electron content (TEC) near the crest of equatorial ionization anomaly at Bhopal (Geog. 23.2°N, 77.4°E, and MLAT 14.2°N) has been studied for the solar minimum period March 2005- November 2006. TEC data recorded by GPS Ionospheric Scintillation and TEC Monitor (GISTM) GSV4004A receiver is used for the study and results are presented in the paper. More than 10% increase in TEC with respect to background content is considered for analysis. Out of total 138 enhancements, 65 observed during pre midnight hours and 73 during post midnight hours. It is observed that nighttime enhancement in TEC at Bhopal occurs in all seasons; it is more frequent during summer, less during equinox and least during winter months. The enhancement in nighttime TEC can be observed both in geomagnetic disturbed time and in quiet time. We found that mean peak amplitude for pre-midnight TEC enhancement are more in equinox and less in winter, while in post-midnight TEC enhancement it is highest in summer and less in winter. Post-midnight enhancements have smaller peak amplitude as compared to pre-midnight. Also the most probable values for pre- and post-midnights are 4.4 TECU and 2.17 TECU respectively. The percentage occurrence of nighttime TEC enhancement does not show any dependence on solar activity whereas the peak amplitude depends on solar activity. The percentage occurrence of nighttime TEC enhancement decreases as the magnetic activity increases whereas there is no such dependency found with peak amplitude. It is also observed that majority of nighttime TEC enhancements are occurred without scintillation. The localised nighttime TEC enhancements near the crest of equatorial ionization anomaly region have been observed most of the nights during the period of study.

Characteristics of nighttime VLF/ELF emissions with frequency drift and estimation of the large-scale electric field from the frequency drift observed at a low latitude Indian ground station, Jammu

Characteristics of nighttime VLF/ELF emissions are examined on the basis of the data obtained at our low latitude ground station Jammu (geomagnetic latitude, 22°26′ N; L = 1.17), India during our VLF/ELF campaign. From the detailed analysis of a huge amount of acquired VLF/ELF data at Jammu we have found three remarkable events which clearly exhibit a rise in their frequency in pre and past midnight sectors during magnetically quiet and substorm periods. Our analysis shows that the frequency drift in VLF/ELF emissions seems to be a rare phenomenon at low latitudes during magnetically quiet and substorm periods in pre and post midnight sectors. This property of temporal frequency drift (regular frequency increases with time) in VLF/ELF emissions observed at our station Jammu are interpreted in terms of a quasi-linear electron cyclotron instability model for wave excitation. The initial frequency increase is believed to be due to a combind effect of L-shell drift of energetic electrons. Further, the frequency drifts in VLF/ELF emissions observed at Jammu have been used to estimate the large scale electric field during quiet and substorm periods in pre and post midnight sectors. This investigation would be most useful for the study of the wave-particle interaction processes, magnetospheric plasma structure and particle dynamics, especially during quiet periods in premidnight sector at low latitudes.

Statistical analysis and model of spread F occurrence in China

The spread F data obtained over Lanzhou (36.1°N, 103.9°E), Chongqing (29.5°N, 106.4°E) and Haikou (20.0°N, 110.3°E) of China during the period from 1978 to 1997 are used to analyze the occurrence characteristics. The statistical results show that the post midnight spread F occurrence is maximum during the summer solstice months of the lower solar activity period, while post sunset spread F is dominant in equinoxes of higher solar activity period over Haikou station. Over Chongqing and Lanzhou stations, spread F mostly occurs at post midnight and relates negatively with solar activity. Using regression method and Fourier expansion, the preliminary single-station model of spread F occurrence is established and the accuracy of the model is evaluated.

Ionospheric precursors observed at low latitudes around the time of koyna earthquake

On December 11, 1967 at 05:21 LT, an immense earthquake of magnitude 6.7 struck Koyna, the Indian province of Maharashtra. Its epicenter was located at geographic latitude 17.37°N and longitude 73.75°E with depth of about 3 km. Ground based measurements show variation in the critical frequency of ionospheric F2 layer (foF2) before and after the shock. In the present study the behavior of F2-region of ionosphere has been examined over the equatorial and low latitudinal region ionosphere during the month of December 1967 around the time of Koyna earthquake. For this purpose, the ionospheric data collected with the help of ground-based ionosondes installed at Hyderabad (located close to the earthquake epicenter) Ahmedabad, Trichirapulli, Kodaikanal and Trivendrum have been utilized. The upper and lower bound of Interquartile range (IRQ) are constructed to monitor the variations in foF2 other than day-to-day and diurnal pattern for finding the seismo-ionospheric precursors. Some anomalous electron density variations are observed between post midnight hours to local pre-noon hours at each station. These anomalies are strongly time dependent and appeared a couple of days before the main shock. The period considered in this study comes under the quiet geomagnetic conditions. Hence, the observed anomalies (which are more than the usual day-to-day variability) over all stations are likely to be associated with this imminent earthquake. The possible mechanism to explain these anomalies is the effect of seismogenic electric field generated just above the surface of earth within the earthquake preparation zone well before the earthquake due to emission of radioactive particles and then propagated upward, which perturbs the F-region ionosphere.

Study of ionospheric irregularities during intense magnetic storms

The effects of two intense magnetic storms over ionospheric irregularities were analyzed using GPS signal scintillation data from the stations of São Luís (2.57ºS, 44.21ºW, dip latitude 1.73ºS) in the equatorial region, São José dos Campos (23.07ºS, 45.86ºW, dip latitude 18.01ºS) and Cachoeira Paulista (22.57ºS, 45.07ºW, dip latitude 18.12ºS) both under the Equatorial Ionization Anomaly (EIA), and São Martinho da Serra (29.28ºS, 53.82ºW, dip latitude 18.57ºS), located in the South of Brazil. Total Electron Content (TEC) data for São Luís and São José dos Campos, were also analyzed. The analyzed storms occurred on October 28-31, 2003 and on November 7-11, 2004. Both storm periods presented two main phases. In the nights of 29/30 and 30/31 of October, during the two storm main phase, it was observed that TEC over São José dos Campos reached higher values than the TEC for the magnetically quiet day of October 10, due to the effect of eastward electric field prompt penetration to magnetic equator that intensified the EIA. Compared to a quiet day (Oct 10), scintillation in the GPS signal amplitude due to ionospheric irregularity, quantified by the scintillation index S4, was stronger for Cachoeira Paulista (under EIA) during the night of 30/31but not for the night of 29/30 and for São Martinho da Serra was stronger during the nights of 29/30 and 30/31. Scintillation for the nights of 29/30 and 30/31 at these two stations lasted longer than on October 10, reaching the post midnight time sector. During the November 7-11 storm, TEC kept the behavior of a quiet day except during days 10 and 11 (up to 9 UT), when a large TEC decrease was observed. The GPS scintillation, compared to the quiet day November 19, was larger at the equatorial station of São Luís during the nights of 7/8 and 8/9 and it was completely inhibited for the São Luís and São José dos Campos stations during the nights of 9/10 and 10/11, probably due to action of westward disturbance dynamo electric field penetration to equator.

Simulations of the neutral structure within the dusk side aurora

Abstract. Observations of neutral winds from rocket release experiments within the premidnight and postmidnight substorm recovery phase aurora, show very large E-region neutral winds of several hundred m/s, where winds measured on the dusk side are even larger than those on the dawn side. These large winds are also associated with strong shears, and there is evidence that some of the regions below these shears may be unstable. The mechanisms which generate this strong vertical structure are not well understood. It is also not known whether the acceleration conditions in the pre and post midnight sectors of the aurora may produce significantly different neutral responses on the dawn and dusk sides. Simulations have been performed using a three-dimensional high resolution limited area thermosphere model to try to understand the neutral structure within the dawn and dusk side aurora. When simulations are performed using auroral forcing alone, for equivalent conditions within the dawn and dusk sectors, differences are found in the simulated response on each side. When measured values of auroral forcing parameters, and background winds and tides consistent with recent observations, are used as model inputs, some of the main features of the zonal and meridional wind observations are reproduced in the simulations, but the magnitude of the peak zonal wind around 140 km tends to be too small and the maximum meridional wind around 130 km is overestimated. The winds above 120 km altitude are found to be sensitive to changes in electric fields and ion densities, as was the case for the dawn side, but the effects of background winds and tides on the magnitudes of the winds above 120 km are found to be relatively small on the dusk side. The structure below 120 km appears to be related mainly to background winds and tides rather than auroral forcing, as was found in earlier studies on the dawn side, although the peak magnitudes of simulated wind variations in the 100 to 120 km altitude range are smaller than those observed. The source of the strong shears measured around 110 km altitude on the dusk side is uncertain, but may be related to different kinds of oscillations, such as gravity waves, non migrating semidiurnal tides, or secondary oscillations produced by non linear interactions between waves.

VHF and L-band scintillation characteristics over an Indian low latitude station, Waltair (17.7° N, 83.3° E)

Abstract. Characteristics of simultaneous VHF (244 MHz) and L-band (1.5 GHz) scintillations recorded at a low-latitude station, Waltair (17.7° N, 83.3° E), during the low sunspot activity year of March 2004 to March 2005, suggest that the occurrence of scintillations is mainly due to two types, namely the Plasma Bubble Induced (PBI), which maximizes during the post sunset hours of winter and equinoctial months, and the Bottom Side Sinusoidal (BSS) type, which maximizes during the post-midnight hours of the summer solstice months. A detailed study on the spectral characteristics of the scintillations at both the frequencies show that the post-sunset scintillations are strong with fast fading (≈40 fad/min) and are multiple in nature in scattering, giving rise to steep spectral slopes, whereas the post-midnight scintillations, which occur mostly on the VHF signal with low fading rate (≈4 fad/min), are of the BSS type, often showing typical Fresnel oscillations with reduced roll off spectral slopes, indicating that the type of irregularity resembles a thin screen structure giving rise to weak scattering. Using the onset times of several similar scintillation patches across the two satellite (FLEETSAT 73° E, INMARSAT 65° E) ray paths (sub-ionospheric points are separated by 82 km), the East ward movement of the irregularity patches is found to vary from 150 to 250 m/s during the post sunset hours and decrease slowly during the post midnight hours. Further, the east-west extent of the PBI type of irregularities is found to vary from 100 to 500 km, while that of the BSS type extend up to a few thousand kilometers. Keywords. Ionosphere (Ionospheric irregularities; Auroral ionosphere; Electric fields and currents)

Post midnight spread-F occurrence over Waltair (17.7° N, 83.3° E) during low and ascending phases of solar activity

Abstract. A study carried out on the occurrence of post midnight spread-F events at a low-latitude station, Waltair (17.7° N, 83.3° E), India revealed that its occurrence is maximum in the summer solstice months of the low solar activity period and decreases with an increase in the sunspot activity. The F-region virtual height variations show that 80% of these spread-F cases are associated with an increase in the F-region altitude. It is suggested with the support of the night airglow 6300 A zenith intensity data obtained with co-located ground-based night airglow photometer and electron temperature data from the Indian SROSS C2 satellite that the seasonal variation of the occurrence and probable onset times of the post midnight spread-F depend on the characteristics of the highly variable semipermanent equatorial Midnight Temperature Maximum (MTM).Key words. Ionosphere (ionospheric irregularities; ionosphere atmosphere interactions) Atmospheric composition and structure (airglow and Aurora)

A case study of HF radar spectral width in the post midnight magnetic local time sector and its relationship to the polar cap boundary

Abstract. The aim of this paper is to advance the current understanding of the spectral width parameter observed by coherent high frequency (HF) radars. In particular, we address the relationship of a frequently observed gradient, between low ( < 200 m/s) and high ( > 200 m/s) spectral width, to magnetospheric boundaries. Previous work has linked this gradient in the spectral width, in the nightside sector of magnetic local time, to the Polar Cap Boundary (PCB), and also to the boundary between the Central Plasma Sheet (CPS) and the Plasma Sheet Boundary Layer (PSBL). The present case study investigates the former by comparison with the 630.0 nm optical emission. No suitable data were available to test the second of the two hypotheses. It is found that during the interval in question the spectral width gradient is within the region of the 630.0 nm optical emission. A comparison of coherent and incoherent scatter radar data is also conducted, which indicates that values of high spectral width are typically collocated with elevated F-region electron temperatures. We conclude that the high spectral width region in the interval under study is associated with particle precipitation and also that the spectral width gradient is not a reliable method for locating the PCB.Key words. Ionosphere (auroral ionosphere; ionospheric irregularities)

Letter to the editor: The ionospheric response during an interval of Pc5 ULF wave activity

Abstract. A preliminary analysis of Pc5, ULF wave activity observed with the IMAGE magnetometer array and the EISCAT UHF radar in the post midnight sector indicates that such waves can be caused by the modulation of the ionospheric conductivity as well as the wave electric field. An observed Pc5 pulsation is divided into three separate intervals based upon the EISCAT data. In the first and third, the Pc5 waves are observed only in the measured electron density between 90 and 112 km and maxima in the electron density at these altitudes are attributed to pulsed precipitation of electrons with energies up to 40 keV which result in the height integrated Hall conductivity being pulsed between 10 and 50 S. In the second interval, the Pc5 wave is observed in the F-region ion temperature, electron density and electron temperature but not in the D and E region electron densities. The analysis suggests that the wave during this interval is a coupled Alfven and compressional mode.Key words: Ionosphere (electric fields and currents) - Magnetospheric physics (magnetosphere-ionosphere interaction; MHD waves and instabilities)

The ionospheric response during an interval of Pc5 ULF wave activity

A preliminary analysis of Pc5, ULF wave activity observed with the IMAGE magnetometer array and the EISCAT UHF radar in the post midnight sector indicates that such waves can be caused by the modulation of the ionospheric conductivity as well as the wave electric field. An observed Pc5 pulsation is divided into three separate intervals based upon the EISCAT data. In the first and third, the Pc5 waves are observed only in the measured electron density between 90 and 112 km and maxima in the electron density at these altitudes are attributed to pulsed precipitation of electrons with energies up to 40 keV which result in the height integrated Hall conductivity being pulsed between 10 and 50 S. In the second interval, the Pc5 wave is observed in the F-region ion temperature, electron density and electron temperature but not in the D and E region electron densities. The analysis suggests that the wave during this interval is a coupled Alfven and compressional mode.

High‐latitude ionospheric electrodynamics as determined by the assimilative mapping of ionospheric electrodynamics procedure for the conjunctive SUNDIAL/ATLAS 1/GEM period of March 28–29, 1992

During the conjunctive SUNDIAL/ATLAS 1/GEM campaign period of March 28–29, 1992, a set of comprehensive data has been collected both from space and from ground. The assimilative mapping of ionospheric electrodynamics (AMIE) procedure is used to derive the large‐scale high‐latitude ionospheric conductivity, convection, and other related quantities, by combining the various data sets. The period was characterized by several moderate substorm activities. Variations of different ionospheric electrodynamic fields are examined for one substorm interval. The cross‐polar‐cap potential drop, Joule heating, and field‐aligned current are all enhanced during the expansion phase of substorms. The most dramatic changes of these fields are found to be associated with the development of the substorm electrojet in the post midnight region. Variations of global electrodynamic quantities for this 2‐day period have revealed a good correlation with the auroral electrojet (AE) index. In this study we have calculated the AE index from ground magnetic perturbations observed by 63 stations located between 55° and 76° magnetic latitudes north and south, which is larger than the standard AE index by about 28% on the average over these 2 days. Different energy dissipation channels have also been estimated. On the average over the 2 days, the total globally integrated Joule heating rate is about 102 GW and the total globally integrated auroral energy precipitation rate is about 52 GW. Using an empirical formula, the ring current energy injection rate is estimated to be 125 GW for a decay time of 3.5 hours, and 85 GW for a decay time of 20 hours. We also find an energy‐coupling efficiency of 3% between the solar wind and the magnetosphere for a southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) condition.

The magnetic state of the lower ionosphere during Pioneer Venus entry phase

During the entry phase of the Pioneer Venus Orbiter, defined as that period at the end of mission in 1992 when the periapsis fell below 185 km, the magnetometer made repeated measurements throughout the post midnight ionosphere until about 0430 LT. In this region the magnetic field is generally stronger at comparable altitudes than it was earlier at times of higher solar activity. This increase combined with a decrease in electron density causes the ratio of the magnetic pressure to thermal pressure to approach unity at altitudes above 200 km, whereas it was much lower than unity at these altitudes during solar maximum. From 160–200 km the magnetic field pressure exceeds that of the ionospheric plasma quite unlike the usual conditions seen at the beginning of the mission. At lowest altitudes below 150 km, however, the field becomes weaker and hence no evidence for a planetary magnetic field is found.

Spectral properties of magnetotail oscillations as a source of Pc5 pulsations

Field aligned resonances at ULF pulsation frequencies are important mechanisms for transporting energy from the solar wind to the ionosphere. Observations by the Goose Bay HF radar in the post midnight sector have established that a stable discrete spectrum of resonant frequencies in the mHz range exists. This can be ascribed to the existence of magnetospheric cavity resonances which drive the resonances. The cavity between the magnetopause and the turning point is usually assumed to be the cause of such phenomena. In this paper an alternative cavity in the magnetotail is studied and its eigenmodes and eigenfrequencies are computed. While this cavity produces frequencies which fit the observations, the excitation of such modes by the solar wind would be difficult. It is concluded that a cavity between the magnetopause and the turning point is the most probable source of the pulsations.