Exciting Chirping Whistler Waves: From the Laboratory to Space
This blog post originated in the 2017 Science Mission Directorate Technology Highlights Report (33 MB PDF). Technology Development Chorus waves are a class of frequency-chirping, whistler-mode plasma waves that are routinely observed in Earth’s near-space environment. Chorus waves play a key role in various physical processes including the formation of the Earth’s Van Allen radiation belts, the pulsating aurora, and the deposition of particle energy into Earth’s upper atmosphere. Although these waves have been observed by satellites for almost six decades, the origin and excitation mechanisms of chorus waves are poorly understood because there are not enough appropriate observations. To observe chorus excitation, it would be necessary to perform high-resolution temporal measurements of three-component electric and magnetic fields simultaneously at a large number of points in space, and be fortunate enough for some of these measurements to occur at the precise location of chorus growth—a nearly impossible feat. The Large Plasma Device at the University of...