Verification of the backward wave oscillator model of VLF chorus generation using data from MAGION 5 satellite

Abstract

Abstract. We present a detailed study of chorus emissions in the magnetosphere detected on board Magion 5, when the satellite was not far from the magnetic equator. We determine the frequency sweep rate of more than 8500 electromagnetic VLF chorus elements. These results are compared with the backward wave oscillator (BWO) regime of chorus generation. Comparison of the frequency sweep rate with the BWO model shows: (i) There is a correlation between the frequency sweep rates and the chorus amplitudes. The frequency sweep rate increases with chorus amplitude, in accordance with expectations from the BWO model; (ii) The chorus growth rate, estimated from the frequency sweep rate, is in accord with that inferred from the BWO generation mechanism; (iii) The BWO regime of chorus generation ensures the observed decrease in the frequency sweep rate of the chorus elements with increasing L-shell.Key words. Magnetospheric physics (VLF emissions, energetic particles) – Space plasma physics (wave-particle interactions)