Auroral kilometric radiation source characteristics using ray tracing techniques

R. Schreiber (1) , O. Santolik (2) , Michel Parrot (3) , François Lefeuvre (3) , J. Hanasz (4) , M. Brittnacher (5) , G. Parks (6)

1 CAMK - Copernicus Astronomical Center of the Polish Academy of Sciences
2 Faculty of Mathematics and Physics [Praha/Prague]
3 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace
4 CBK - Space Research Centre of Polish Academy of Sciences
5 Geophysics Program
6 SSL - Space Sciences Laboratory [Berkeley]

3-D ray tracing to the presumed auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) source region has been performed using the input data from wave distribution function (WDF) based on the AKR waveforms recorded on board the Interball 2 satellite by the French wave experiment MEMO. Both the direction of the WDF maximum and the WDF form and angular size have been taken into account. Two instances of AKR emissions were observed on 28 January 1997 at 2037 and 2107 UT. Rays traced in R-X mode out of the s/c point toward two different active regions on the auroral oval (as seen with Polar UV imager after projection of the source region along the magnetic field lines down to the ionosphere level). Source region apparent angular sizes based on WDF are compatible with sizes estimated from signal modulation produced by electric antenna system rotation.

Keywords: Wave Distribution Function (WDF); direction finding; aurora; Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR); ray tracing

Domains: Geophysics [physics.geo-ph]; Atmospheric and Oceanic Physics [physics.ao-ph]

R. Schreiber, O. Santolik, Michel Parrot, François Lefeuvre, J. Hanasz, et al.. Auroral kilometric radiation source characteristics using ray tracing techniques. Journal of Geophysical Research Space Physics, 2002, 107 (A11), pp.SMP 20-1-SMP 20-7. ⟨10.1029/2001JA009061⟩. ⟨insu-01558779⟩