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Excitation of O + Band EMIC Waves Through H + Ring Velocity Distributions: Van Allen Probe Observations
Author(s) -
Yu Xiongdong,
Yuan Zhigang,
Huang Shiyong,
Yao Fei,
Wang Dedong,
Funsten Herbert O.,
Wygant John R.
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1002/2018gl077109
Subject(s) - physics , ring current , plasmasphere , van allen probes , instability , atomic physics , excitation , magnetic field , magnetosphere , van allen radiation belt , quantum mechanics , mechanics
A typical case of electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) emissions with both He + band and O + band waves was observed by Van Allen Probe A on 14 July 2014. These emissions occurred in the morning sector on the equator inside the plasmasphere, in which region O + band EMIC waves prefer to appear. Through property analysis of these emissions, it is found that the He + band EMIC waves are linearly polarized and propagating quasi‐parallelly along the background magnetic field, while the O + band ones are of linear and left‐hand polarization and propagating obliquely with respect to the background magnetic field. Using the in situ observations of plasma environment and particle data, excitation of these O + band EMIC waves has been investigated with the linear growth theory. The calculated linear growth rate shows that these O + band EMIC waves can be locally excited by ring current protons with ring velocity distributions. The comparison of the observed wave spectral intensity and the calculated growth rate suggests that the density of H + rings providing the free energy for the instability has decreased after the wave grows. Therefore, this paper provides a direct observational evidence to the excitation mechanism of O + band EMIC waves: ring current protons with ring distributions provide the free energy supporting the instability in the presence of rich O + in the plasmasphere.