Ducted whistler-mode signals received at two widely spaced locations

Whistler-mode signals from a single VLF transmitter that have propagated in the same duct, have been observed simultaneously at Faraday, Antarctica (65°S, 64°W) and Dunedin, New Zealand (46°S, 171°E). The signals received have group-delay times that differ in the order of 10 ms, which can be explained by the differences in southern-hemisphere sub-ionospheric propagation time from duct exit region to receiver for the two sites. This difference has been used to determine the location of the duct exit region, with confirmation provided by arrival-bearing information from both sites. The whistler-mode signals typically occur one or two days after geomagnetic activity, with Kpgeq5. The sub-ionospheric-propagation model, LWPC, is used to estimate the whistler-mode power radiated from the duct exit region. These results are then combined with estimated loss values for ionospheric and ducted transmission to investigate the role of wave-particle amplification or absorption. On at least half of the events studied, plasmaspheric amplification of the signals appears to be needed to explain the observed whistler-mode signal strengths.

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