SM025-02
Propagation effects on EMIC wave k vectors: Observations from MMS

Thursday, 10 December 2020: 19:04
Virtual
Sarah K. Vines1, Aditi V Madabushi2, Joan U Ojukwu2, Brian J Anderson3, Robert Colby Allen1, Jay Johnson4, Mark J. Engebretson5, Richard Eugene Denton6, Justin H Lee7, Sergio Toledo-Redondo8, Sam Bingham9, Drew L. Turner1, Eun-Hwa Kim10, Christopher T Russell11, Robert J Strangeway12, Roy B Torbert13,14 and James L Burch15, (1)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, (2)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, United States, (3)The Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, MD, United States, (4)Andrews University, Berrien Springs, MI, United States, (5)Augsburg University, Physics, Minneapolis, MN, United States, (6)Dartmouth College, Department of Physics and Astronomy, Hanover, NH, United States, (7)The Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (8)University of Murcia, Murcia, Spain, (9)Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, (Deceased during the planning stages of the session), Laurel, MD, United States, (10)Princeton University, Plasma Physics Laboratory, Princeton, NJ, United States, (11)University of California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (12)Univ California, Los Angeles, CA, United States, (13)Univ New Hampshire, Durham, NH, United States, (14)Southwest Research Institute Durham, Durham, NH, United States, (15)Southwest Research Institute San Antonio, San Antonio, TX, United States
Recorded Presentation
Abstract:
Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves play important roles in particle heating and loss processes in the magnetosphere. The character of the EMIC wave-particle interaction is determined by the wave dispersion in the plasma, and can be diagnosed with the wave frequency and wave vector, k. Determining the evolution of EMIC waves with propagation and how those changes affect wave-particle interactions therefore requires knowledge of k as the waves propagate. Using the unique configuration and multi-point observations of the Magnetospheric MultiScale (MMS) mission, we utilize the wave curl analysis to determine k for individual EMIC wave packets during a several-hours-long interval of EMIC wave activity in the dayside outer magnetosphere on 2015 October 28 at large L shells (>10). During this time, MMS transits an off-equator EMIC wave source region, passing through regions of varying distance from the source along the field line. This allows us to probe the variation and evolution of k, which has direct consequences on subsequent wave-particle resonances. Additionally, these analysis techniques can be applied to simulations of EMIC wave propagation to further understand how mode conversion and reflection at high-latitudes may manifest in the observations. The application of the techniques illustrated in this event provide the basis for a comprehensive survey of EMIC wave events observed by MMS in the outer magnetosphere.
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