An Explanation for Arecibo Plasma Line Power Striations
Name
JGR Space Physics - 2021 - Longley - An Explanation for Arecibo Plasma Line Power Striations.pdf
Description
Published version
Size
3.98 MB
Format
Adobe PDF
Checksum (MD5)
64accfc42bb17407331ad679f4bdfe55
Author(s)
Longley, William J
Vierinen, Juha
Sulzer, Michael P
Varney, Roger H
Erickson, Philip J
Perillat, Phil
Date Issued
February 1, 2021
Journal
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
Publisher
American Geophysical Union
Citation
Longley, W. J., Vierinen, J., Sulzer, M. P., Varney, R. H., Erickson, P. J., & Perillat, P. (2021). An explanation for Arecibo plasma line power striations. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 126, e2020JA028734.
Version
Final published version
Abstract
Measurements of plasma lines by the Arecibo incoherent scatter radar are known to have sharp striations in power, varying with the plasma frequency and magnetic aspect angle of the radar beam. We explain these power striations as the manifestation of a suprathermal electron population with peaks in energy at approximately 15, 25, and 45 eV. These energies correspond to sharp features in the photoelectron energy spectra measured by rockets and spacecraft. A new theory is developed to predict the plasma line power for an arbitrary, magnetized suprathermal distribution. The magnetization terms in this theory are shown to contribute substantially to the enhancement of plasma line power through inverse Landau and cyclotron damping of the suprathermal peaks. The theory is applied as a forward model to measurements obtained at Arecibo for different magnetic field aspect angles, showing general agreement with the data. At large magnetic aspect angles the theory reproduces the upper‐hybrid instability which can cause 150 km echoes. The developed theory allows for the suprathermal distribution at a given altitude to be probed across a wide range of energies and pitch angles.
MIT Department
Haystack Observatory
Terms of Use
Article is made available in accordance with the publisher's policy and may be subject to US copyright law. Please refer to the publisher's site for terms of use.
Persistent DSpace Link
DOI of Published Version
https://doi.org/10.1029/2020ja028734
