Diffuse auroral precipitation driven by lower-band chorus second harmonics.

ABSTRACT: Diffuse aurora at the Earth's high latitude regions is mainly caused by the low-energy (0.1-30 keV) electron precipitation which carries the major energy flux into the nightside upper atmosphere. Previous studies have demonstrated that combined scattering by the upper- and lower- band chorus waves acts as the dominant cause of diffuse auroral precipitation, but that is not necessarily the case as these two types of waves do not always occur simultaneously, with the lower-band more often. Here we report that the lower-band chorus satisfying the preferred condition can generate their second harmonics so as to trigger the diffuse auroral electron precipitation. We find that the lower-band chorus alone can only cause the precipitation of electrons greater than 4 keV, while the self-consistentl

SUBMITTER: Yu X 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC9883244 | biostudies-literature | 2023 Jan

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature