Source variation and ground accessibility of magnetospheric mid-latitude ELF/VLF chorus and hiss

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Abstract/Contents

Abstract
The distribution of relativistic electrons that form the Earth's radiation belts is extremely variable, with the trapped flux changing by several orders of magnitude on timescales of a few hours to days. These energetic particles pose a significant hazard to satellites and astronauts in the near-Earth space environment. The dynamic evolution of the radiation belts is believed to be controlled in large part by two separate but related classes of naturally occurring plasma waves: extremely low frequency/very low frequency (ELF/VLF) chorus and hiss. This dissertation explores characteristics of chorus and hiss observed at Palmer Station, Antarctica with the goal of improving our ability to differentiate between variations in emission generation and the effects of emissions' propagation to the ground. Results are presented from a two-part study, consisting of both observations and modeling, which explores the manner in which the plasmapause affects the propagation of chorus from its magnetospheric source to the ground. Results indicate that the observed chorus propagates in a non-ducted mode, which is contrary to a long-standing belief that guiding structures are necessary for chorus to propagate to the ground. This newly-explored mode of ground propagation indicates that ground stations may be able to observe a larger portion of waves than previously thought and provides for a more accurate interpretation of ground-observed waves and their influence on energetic particle distributions. Following this, an automated system of detecting chorus and hiss in broadband ELF/VLF data using neural networks is discussed. Results of running the automated detector on ten years of data are discussed including diurnal, seasonal and solar cyclical variations of emissions.

Description

Type of resource text
Form electronic; electronic resource; remote
Extent 1 online resource.
Publication date 2011
Issuance monographic
Language English

Creators/Contributors

Associated with Golden, Daniel Irving
Associated with Stanford University, Department of Electrical Engineering
Primary advisor Inan, Umran S
Thesis advisor Inan, Umran S
Thesis advisor Osgood, Brad
Thesis advisor Spasojević, Maria
Advisor Osgood, Brad
Advisor Spasojević, Maria

Subjects

Genre Theses

Bibliographic information

Statement of responsibility Daniel Irving Golden.
Note Submitted to the Department of Electrical Engineering.
Thesis Thesis (Ph.D.)--Stanford University, 2011.
Location electronic resource

Access conditions

Copyright
© 2011 by Daniel I Golden
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial 3.0 Unported license (CC BY-NC).

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