Cluster observations of ELF/VLF signals generated by modulated heating of the lower ionosphere with the HAARP HF transmitter

MANUEL PLATINO; UMRAN INAN; TIMOTHY BELL; JOLENE PICKETT; EDWARD KENNEDY; JEAN GABRIEL TROTIGNON; JEAN LOUIS RAUCH; PATRICK CANU

ANNALES GEOPHYSICAE

COPERNICUS PUBLICATIONS

Año: 2004 vol. 22 p. 2643 - 2653

0992-7689

It is now well known that amplitude modulated HF transmissions into the ionosphere can be used to generate ELF/VLF signals using the so-called "electrojet antenna". Although most observations of the generated ELF/VLF signals have been made on the ground, several low and highaltitude satellite observations have also been reported (James et al., 1990). One of the important unknowns in the physics of ELF/VLF wave generation by ionospheric heating is the volume of the magnetosphere illuminated by the ELF/VLF waves. In an attempt to investigate this question further, ground-satellite conjunction experiments have recently been conducted using the four Cluster satellites and the HF heater of the High-Frequency Active Auroral Research Program (HAARP) facility in Gakona, Alaska. Being located on largely closed field lines at L ~ 4.9, HAARP is currently also being used for ground-to-ground type of ELF/VLF waveinjection experiments, and will be increasingly used for this purpose as it is now being upgraded for higher power operation. In this paper, we describe the HAARP installation and present recent results of the HAARP-Cluster experiments. We give an overview of the detected ELF/VLF signals at Cluster, and a possible explanation of the spectral signature detected, as well as the determination of the location of the point of injection of the HAARP ELF/VLF signals into the magnetosphere using ray tracing.