Propagation characteristics and generation mechanism of ELF/VLF hiss observed at low-latitude ground station (L = 1.17)

Abstract

Extremely low frequency (ELF)/Very low frequency (VLF) hiss is whistler mode wave that interacts with energetic electrons in the magnetosphere. The characteristics features of ELF/VLF hiss observed at low latitude ground station Jammu (Geomag. lat. 22°16′ N, L=1.17) are reported. It is observed that most of hiss events first propagate in ducted mode along higher L-values (L = 4–5), after reaching lower edge of ionosphere excite the Earth-ionosphere waveguide and propagate towards equator to be received at low-latitude station Jammu. To understand the generation mechanism of ELF/VLF hiss, incoherent Cerenkov radiated power from the low-latitude and mid-latitude plasmasphere are evaluated. Considering this estimated power as an input for wave amplification through wave–particle interaction, the growth rate and amplification factor is evaluated which is too small to explain the observed wave intensity. It is suggested that some non-linear mechanism is responsible for the generation of ELF/VLF hiss.