Collaborative Research: Applying the AGO Network to Energy Transfer in the Radiation Belts and Remote Sensing of Auroral Plasma Processes

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With this award, researchers at Dartmouth College and Stanford University will be addressing outstanding scientific questions regarding the energy transfer in the Earth's radiation belts and auroral plasma physics. Energetic plasma interacting with the geomagnetic field in the near-Earth space (geospace) environment emits electromagnetic waves across the radio spectrum, and ground-based measurements of these waves are used as diagnostic tools to investigate various processes in geospace. This investigation takes advantage of an existing network of radio receivers located in Antarctica from -70 to -85 degrees of invariant geomagnetic latitude and operating in the frequency range from extra low to high frequencies (ELF ~300 Hz to HF ~5 MHz). The Antarctic continent is ideally suited for these types of natural radio wave experiments since it is largely devoid of anthropogenic electromagnetic interference such as power line harmonics and radio frequency broadcast transmissions. The project will focus on studies of three geophysically important plasma waves. The first, chorus wave is believed to be a major driver of radiation belt electron acceleration and loss. The other two waves, auroral hiss and auroral kilometric radiation (AKR), are generated in the auroral acceleration region and have the potential to be used for remote sensing of this complex and poorly understood near-Earth region. The proposed studies are motivated by a recent, exciting detection of AKR on the Earth?s surface which was unexpected since the currently accepted theory for these waves generation predicts beaming of the radiation only outward away from Earth. This research also contributes to the training and education of both the young scientists and undergraduate students.