Properties of EMIC waves and EMIC wave-driven REP observed in subauroral
latitudes
Abstract
Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves are believed to cause the
loss of relativistic electrons from the outer radiation belt into the
atmosphere due to pitch angle scattering.
However, it is still unclear whether all EMIC waves can scatter
relativistic electrons or which conditions are favorable for pitch angle
scattering by EMIC waves. In this study, we performed a two-year data
analysis of EMIC waves and relativistic electron precipitation (REP)
caused by EMIC waves, from 1 November 2016 to 31 October 2018. EMIC
waves were observed using a ground-based magnetometer installed at
Athabasca (ATH), Canada. REP events were identified from very
low-frequency radio waves propagated from the transmitters at the NDK
and NLK stations (North Dakota and Seattle, USA, respectively) to the
receiver installed at ATH. The magnetic local time dependence of EMIC
waves showed higher occurrence rates in the dawn sector. In contrast,
EMIC waves accompanied by REP were localized in the dusk sector and were
likely to occur during geomagnetic substorms. We found that EMIC waves
accompanied by REP were associated with the main phase of geomagnetic
storms and occurred inside the plasmapause. These results suggest that
the EMIC waves that cause REP occur in the overlap region between the
ring current and dense cold plasma during the main phase of geomagnetic
storms. This is consistent with previous studies describing that the
electron resonant energy with EMIC waves is lower in regions with high
plasma density.