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Oxygen cyclotron harmonic waves observed using Van Allen Probes

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Abstract

Fine structured multiple-harmonic electromagnetic emissions at frequencies around the equatorial oxygen cyclotron harmonics are observed by Van Allen Probe A outside the core plasmasphere (L~5) off the magnetic equator (MLAT~−7.5°) during a geomagnetic storm. We find that the multiple-harmonic emissions have power spectrum density (PSD) peaks during 2–8 equatorial oxygen gyroharmonics (f ~ n \(f_{O^{+}}\), n=2–8), while the fundamental mode (n=1) is absent, implying that the harmonic waves are generated near the equator and propagate into the observation region. Additionally, these electromagnetic emissions are linearly polarized. Different from the equatorial noise emission that propagates considerably obliquely, these emissions have moderate wave normal angles (approximately 40°–60°), which predominately increase as the harmonic number increases. Considering their frequency and wave normal angle characteristics, it is suggested that these multiple-harmonic emissions play an important role in the dynamic variation of radiation belt electrons.

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Acknowledgements

We acknowledge the Van Allen Probes data from the EMFISIS instrument obtained from http://emfisis.physics.uiowa.edu/data/index and the EFW instrument obtained from http:// www.space.umn.edu/rbspefw-data/. The data of electron density from the Van Allen Probes are provided by W.S. Kurth. The solar dynamic pressure, AE index and SYM-H index data are provided by Space Physics Data Facility at http://omniweb.gsfc.nasa.gov/. This work was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (Grant Nos. 41374168, 41521063 & 41174140), Key Grant Project of Chinese Ministry of Education (Grant No. 2042015KF0169) and Program for New Century Excellent Talents in University (Grant No. NCET-13-0446).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Electronic Information, Wuhan University, Wuhan, 430072, China

    XiongDong Yu, ZhiGang Yuan, DeDong Wang, ShiYong Huang, Tao Yu & Zheng Qiao

  2. Institute of Space Science and Technology, Nanchang University, Nanchang, 330031, China

    HaiMeng Li

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  1. XiongDong Yu
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Correspondence to ZhiGang Yuan.

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Yu, X., Yuan, Z., Wang, D. et al. Oxygen cyclotron harmonic waves observed using Van Allen Probes. Sci. China Earth Sci. 60, 1310–1316 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-016-9024-3

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