The First Pi2 Pulsation Observed by China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite

On 2 February 2018, the China Seismo-Electromagnetic Satellite (CSES) ZhangHeng 01 (ZH-01) was successfully launched, carrying on board, in addition to a suite of plasma and particle physics instruments, a high precision magnetometer package (HPM), able to observe the ultra-low frequency (ULF) waves. In this paper, a night time Pi2 pulsation observed by CSES is reported for the first time. This Pi2 event occurred on 3 September 2018, and began at 14:30 UT (02:37 magnetic local time), when the satellite was in the southern hemisphere between −49 and −13 magnetic latitude (MLAT). Kakioka (KAK) ground station in Japan detected the same Pi2 between 14:30–14:42 UT (23:30–23:42 local time). The Pi2 oscillations in the compressional, toroidal, and poloidal components at the CSES satellite and the H-component at the KAK station are investigated by estimating coherence, amplitude, and cross-phase. We noticed a high degree of similarity between the Pi2 event in the horizontal component at KAK and the ionospheric fluctuations in the compressional component at CSES. This high correlation indicated the magnetospheric source of the Pi2 event. In addition, Pi2 is exhibited clearly in the δBy component at CSES, which is highly correlated with the ground H component, so the Pi2 event could be explained by the Substorm Current Wedge (SCW). This interpretation is further confirmed by checking the compressional component of Van Allen Probe (VAP) B satellite inside the plasmasphere, which, for the first time, gives observational support for an earlier model. This ULF wave observation shows the consistency and reliability of the high precision magnetometer (HPM) equipped by two fluxgate magnetometers (FGM1 and FGM2) onboard CSES.

Behavior of substorm auroral arcs and Pi2 waves: implication for the kinetic ballooning instability

We present synoptic observations of the 21 December 2006 substorm event by the THEMIS ground-based All-Sky-Imagers, the ISUAL CCD Imager aboard the FORMOSAT-2 satellite, the geosynchronous satellites and the ground-based magnetometers, and discuss the implication of the observations. There are three subsequent arc breakups with time separation of <1 min during the substorm expansion phase. In particular, we investigated the mode number of the substorm arc bead-like structure and the concurrent behavior of the arc intensity, the westward electroject intensity, and the ground Pi2 pulsation amplitude. Prior to each arc breakup there was a clear azimuthally-spaced bright spot structure along the arc with high mode number (~140–180) and the arc intensity increased together with the westward electrojet and the ground Pi2 pulsation amplitude under the arc. The Pi1 perturbations observed under the arc appeared at or after the arc breakup started. This suggests that the Pi2 pulsation is related to the arc formation. The Pi2 pulsation may be caused by the kinetic ballooning instability (KBI) that is excited in the strong cross-tail current region. The longitudinal extent of the earthward expansion front of the substorm dipolarization region at the geosynchronous orbit is estimated from timings of the energetic proton and electron injections and is roughly located between ~19.50 MLT and ~23.00 MLT, which is consistent with the corresponding longitudinal extent of the auroral substorm activity.

Evidence of standing waves during a Pi2 pulsation event observed on Cluster

Observations of Pi2 pulsations at middle and low latitudes have been explained in terms of cavity mode resonances, whereas transients associated with field-aligned currents appear to be responsible for the high latitude Pi2 signature. Data from Cluster are used to study a Pi2 event observed at 18:09 UTC on 21 January 2003, when three of the satellites were within the plasmasphere (L=4.7, 4.5 and 4.6) while the fourth was on the plasmapause or in the plasmatrough (L=6.6). Simultaneous pulsations at ground observatories and the injection of particles at geosynchronous orbit corroborate the occurrence of a substorm. Evidence of a cavity mode resonance is established by considering the phase relationship between the orthogonal electric and magnetic field components associated with radial and field-aligned standing waves. The relative phase between satellites located on either side of the geomagnetic equator indicates that the field-aligned oscillation is an odd harmonic. Finite azimuthal Poynting flux suggests that the cavity is effectively open ended and the azimuthal wave number is estimated as m~13.5.