Abstract
Recent satellite observations1 have revealed details on the strength of the pulsing extremely low frequency (ELF) hiss in the equatorial region which maps down to the auroral zone. It is shown here to be insufficient to produce pitch–angle scattering of energetic electrons into the loss cone at a sufficiently high rate to explain the characteristics of the measured pitch-angle distributions in pulsating auroras, within the framework of the theory proposed by Coroniti and Kennel2. It is suggested that wave–particle interactions involving both broadband incoherent ELF waves and narrow band coherent very low frequency (VLF) waves may be able to produce a sufficiently high rate of pitch-angle scattering.
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Thomas, R. Electron pitch-angle scattering by low frequency waves at the geomagnetic Equator. Nature 303, 785–787 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/303785a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/303785a0
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