The Typical ELF/VLF Electromagnetic Wave Activities in the Upper Ionosphere Recorded by the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite

Abstract

Driven by the scientific objective of geophysical field detection and natural hazard monitoring from space, China launched an electromagnetic satellite, which is known as the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES-01), on 2 February 2018, into a circular sun-synchronous orbit with an altitude of about 507 km in the ionosphere. The CSES-01 has been in orbit for over 6 years, successfully exceeding its designed 5-year lifespan, and will continually operate as long as possible. A second identical successor (CSES-02) will be launched in December 2024 in the same orbit space. The ionosphere is a highly dynamic and complicated system, and it is necessary to comprehensively understand the electromagnetic environment and the physical effects caused by various disturbance sources. The motivation of this report is to introduce the typical electromagnetic waves, mainly in the ELF/VLF band (i.e., ~100 Hz to 25 kHz), recorded by the CSES-01 in order to call the international community for deep research on EM wave activities and geophysical sphere coupling mechanisms. The wave spectral properties and the wave propagation parameters of those typical EM wave activities in the upper ionosphere are demonstrated in this study based on wave vector analysis using the singular value decomposition (SVD) method. The analysis shows that those typical and common natural EM waves in the upper ionosphere mainly include the ionospheric hiss and proton whistlers in the ELF band (below 1 kHz), the quasiperiodic (QP) emissions, magnetospheric line radiations (MLR), the falling-tone lightning whistlers, and V-shaped streaks in the ELF/VLF band (below 20 kHz). The typical artificial EM waves in the ELF/VLF band, such as power line harmonic radiation (PLHR) and radio waves in the VLF band, are also well recorded in the ionosphere.