Correlative Study of High- and Low-Altitude Whistler Wave Observations and
Radiation Belt Structure

Shing F. Fung, James L. Green, Leonard Garcia, Scott A. Boardsen, Xi Shao, and
Lun C. Tan


It is known that whistler mode waves permeate the plasmasphere in the form of
plasmaspheric hiss, although their origin has been a controversy for many years.
Whistler waves are believed to be generated either by storm/substorm-injected
energetic electrons interacting with the cold plasmaspheric plasma or by
escaping spherics from atmospheric lightning. Because of the apparent connection
of plasmaspheric hiss to the loss processes of radiation-belt particles and to
regulating the belt structure, the origin and distribution of plasmaspheric hiss
remain a topic of high interest, particularly for space weather investigations.
In the present study, we investigate the possible relationship between
plasmaspheric hiss characteristics observed by the wave instruments on the
Dynamics Explorer-1 and IMAGE spacecraft at high altitudes (> 1000 km) and
lightning activities at low altitudes or on the ground. Results from this study
will be discussed in the context of observed radiation belt structure.

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Presentation at the Spring AGU Meeting, New Orleans, LA, May 23-27, 2005 and
at the Second Annual Meeting of the Asia Oceania Geosciences Society (ACGS), 
Singapore, June 20-24, 2005.