Adv. Space Res. Vol. 1, pp. 377—380. 0273—1177/81/0I01—0377$05.

00/0
© COSPAR, 1981. Printed in Great Britain.

SATELLITE MEASUREMENTS OF
WHISTLER DISPERSION AT LOW
LATITUDES
A. R. W. Hughes
Department of Physics, University of Natal, Durban,
South Africa’

ABSTRACT

Whistler dispersions were measured for whistlers recorded on ISIS 2 passes over
Quito, Ecuador. The most numerous whistlers were those with dispersions which
4 at 30°magnetic latitude (A) to between 10 and 12 sec
increased from about 5 sec
at the magnetic equat9r. L~ssnumerous were whistlers ~ith dispersions which
decreased from 25 sec~at 30 A to between 10 and 12 sec~at the equators
Whistler ~choeswere observed with dispersions ranging from about 40 sec~at 30 A
to 30 sect at the equator. It is argued that the measured dispersions indicate
that the whistlers observed are unducted.

INTRODUCTION

It is generally agreed that whistlers observed on the ground and by low altitude
satellites at medium latitudes travel in ducts of enhanced ionization over most
of their paths (see for example Smith and Angerami [i], Helliwell [2], James [3],
Cerisier 1.41, Thompson and Dowd.en [5]). At low (L < 1.7) latitudes it is more
difficult to excite ducts because wave normals, which one might expect to be
refracted close to the vertical in the ionosphere, make large angles with the
magnetic field direction. It is therefore possible that low latitude whistlers
propagate in an unducted mode. In this paper we argue, from measurements of low
latitude whistler dispersions, that the unducted mode is the one most commonly
observed on ISIS 2.

The dispersion was measured of 2056 whistlers recorded from ISIS 2, on 18 twelve
minute passes, close to Quito during October 1976. ISIS 2 is in an almost
circular orbit at an altitude of about 1360 km. The passes were recgrded ~
between 0700 and 0900 LT and covered the latitude range from about 20 N to 20 S.
Ne~rQuito these geographic latitudes correspond to magnetic latitudes of about
30 N and 10 S.

ANALYSIS

It was found that the dispersion of the recorded whistlers is accurately described

On sabbatical leave during 1980 at The Physics Department, University of

Sheffield, U.K.

377
378 A. R. W. Hughes
4, provided frequencies of greater than
by theare
2 kHz Eckersley
used. approximation D = this
Departures from t f approximation below 2 kHz are presumably
due to ion effects. Frequency, time co—ordinates for each whistler were
measured using the semi—automated whistler analyser described by Smith et al [6)
and the dispersion determined from a least squares fit to the co—ordinates t, f
For the puspose of discussion fractional hop whistlers which originate in the
northern hemisphere will be called D
1 whistlers with a dispersion D1. In a
similar way D2 will refer to fractional hop whistlers which originate in the
southern hemisphere.

RESULTS

The dispersion of 161 whistlers, recorded between 1158 and 1210 UT on 26 October
1976, are plotted in Figure 1. D1 whistlers were most numerous and only about
I in 8 had their dispersions
measured. D2 whistlers were less
UT 1158-1210 ~ OCTOBER 1976 ISIS 2 numerous and about half of these
had their dispersions measured.
Only one whistler was recorded with
a dispersion greater than D2 which
was sufficiently well defined to be
35 . analy~ed. ~ increases from about
5 sec~at 25 A to about 11 sect
3° • at the magnetic equator. This
increa2emaybe attributed to the
LU . increased path length over which
3° . • the whistler travels through the
IS ~ A: ~ ionosphere and the increased plasma
0 4I~•• . ~
•~4i~jIi • densityassociated
lines on lower with
latitude
the equatorial
field
I~I.l anomaly. It is interesting to note
1~ •b%...•
________________________ ___________ that the increase in path length
30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 10 15 alone would be sufficient to explain
MAGNETIC LATITUDE the increased dispersion if the
energy propagated along magnetic
field lines. For example, the
Fig. 1 Whistler dispersions measured on length of the field line from the
ISIS 2. The lower and upper branches are base of the iongsphere to the
for D
1 and D2 whistlers respectively, satellite at 25 A is about 1750 km
whereas the field line to the
satellite is 3400 km when it is at the magnetic equator. The effect of plasma
density may be seen from Figure 2. The lines A and B give the electron
densities encountered (up to 950 km) by a wave travelliflg along a field line
to the satellite, A applies when the satellite is at 25 A and B when the
satellite is at the magnetic equator. At all altitudes the electron density is
approximately twice as great on path B. This suggests that a whistler which
propagates along a field live 1~which
to theis satellite
nearly 30%at greater than that
the magnetic observed.
equator would
have
We might
a dispersion
conclude therefore
of 14 sec that the wave energy does not follow field line paths.

D2 decreases from about 25 sec4 at 250 A to about 11 sec4 at the equator where
it is equal to D
1. At negative latitudes D2 approximately equals D1 at the
corresponding positiye latitude. The whistler observed at — 2 A has a
dispersion of 36 sec~which is close to the value D1 -#- 2D2. This would suggest
that it is a whistler which originated in the north and has been reflected back
to the satellite from the ionosphere in the southern hemisphere.

Figure 3 shows a similar ISIS 2 pass recorded between 1236 and 1248 UT on
 Whistler Dispersion at Low Latitudes 379

14

MAGNETIC LATITUDE (degrees)

Fig. 2 The lines A and B give the electron densities along field line
8
connecting the ionosphere to ISIS 2 when the satellite is located at 25 A
and the magnetic equator respectively.

UT 1236 - 1248 21 OCTOBER 1976 ISIS 2

.50

45 . . . .

40 . . .

35

~ 30
z
(1~ 1.
~20
0~
JJP
20 0

MAGNETIC LATITUDE

Fig. 3 An ISIS 2 pass showing whistler echoes (D1 + ~ in addition to

D1 and D2 whistlers.
380 A. R. W. Hughes .

21 October 1976. An interesting feature of this pass is that there arc good
examples of whi~tlers with dispersions which decrease from about 55 secI~at 30°
to about 38 sec~at the equator. These dispersions correspond closely to
values D
1 + 2D2 which is a good indication that they are whistler echoes. On
th~spass D20whistlers were observed only over a limited range of latitudes from
31 A to 23 A. The absence of D2 whistlers may be due to a lack of thunderstorm
activity at the appropriate southern latitudes at this time.

The 2 satellite passes described above are selected from 18 similar passes.
On all passes D1 whistlers were present, Dj + 2D2 whistlers were present on 10
passes and D2 whistlers which were always less numerous than D1 whistlers were
absent on 3 passes. On only a few occasions were whistlers observed with
dispersions 2D1 + D2.

DISCUSSION

If the D1, D2 whistlers were ducted or followed the magnetic field closely then
a whistler observed on the ground ought to have a dispersion given by D1 + D2.
Using the val~es of ~ azi~D2 in ~igure 1 we obtain values for D1 + D2 of 30,
25 and 22 sec~at 25 , 20 and ~5 A. These whistlers would exit from the
ionosphere at latitudes 34 , 31 arid 28 A respectively and can be compared with
whistler dispersions recorded on the ground by Hayakawa and Tanaka [7] at
Moshiri (34°A). Whistlers which exit from the io~osphereabove Moshiri during
the night have dispersions of between 30 and 40 sect. Day time whistlers would
have a d4persion at least 20 percent larger at these latitudes giving a value
of 48 sec~which is 60 percent larger than that which is predicted from the
ISIS 2 measurements on the assumption that the propagation is field aligned.
On the basis of this comparison with ground based data and from the increase
inD1with decreasing latitude discussed in the previous section, it does seem
possible to argue that the whistlers observed on ISIS 2 on these passes are
unduct ed.

ACKN~WLEDGE~4E1PPS

The author is indebted to Professor T. R. Kaiser for the facilities which he made
available to him at Sheffield University and to Dr. A. Smith, Mr. I. Smith,
Mr. W. Gibbons and Mr. K. Yearby for their much valued assistance.

The author is also grateful to Dr. R. Barrington and Dr. C. James for providing
him with the ISIS 2 data used in this work. He also acknowledges financial
support from The South African Council for Scientific and Industrial Research and
The University of Natal, Durban.

REFERENCES

1. B. L. Smith and J. J. Angerami, J. Geophys. Res,, 75, 6115 (1968).

2. R. A. Helliwell, Whistlers and Related Ionospheric Phenomena, Stanford
University Press, 1965.
3. H. C. James, Annls. Geophys., 28, 301 (1972).
4. 3. C. Cerisier, J. atmos. terr. Phys., ~, 1443 (1974).
5. R. J. Thompson arid R. L. Dowden, J. atmos. terr. Phys., ~, 869 (1977).
6. A. J. Smith, I. B. Smith, A. M. Deeley and K. Bullough, 3. atmos. terr. Phys.,
~, 587 (1979).
7. M. Hayakawa andY. Tanaka, Rev. Geophys. Space Phys., 16, 111 (1978).