Whistler-triggered VLF noise bursts observed on the DE-1 satellite and simultaneously at Antarctic ground stations

Simultaneous observations of whistler-triggered very low-frequency noise bursts on the ground at Anarctic stations, Halley and Siple, and on the high-altitude satellite DE-1 are reported. Results of a case study from June 25, 1982 in which the satellite data were recorded near 25 deg south magnetic latitude and the L = 4.7 magnetic shell, are presented. Analysis indicates that the chorus bursts that are triggered in whistler ducts travel downwards in the ducts to low altitudes in the ionosphere, and that propagation to DE-1 is by upward reflection into a nonducted mode. A means of estimating the propagation characteristics of the wave bursts is provided by comparisons of nonducted signals from the Siple transmitter and discrete periodic emissions. The ducted-nonducted mode conversion process is a mechanism for the large-scale spreading into the magnetosphere of coherent whistler-mode wave energy which is generated, amplified, or triggered in small localized ducts. The DE-1 data show that a strong interaction exists between whistler-triggered noise bursts and prevailing hiss levels.