Large Amplitude Whistler Waves in Earth's Plasmasphere and Plasmaspheric Plumes

Whistler mode waves in the plasmasphere and plumes drive significant losses of energetic electrons from the Earth's radiation belts into the upper atmosphere. In this study, we conducted a survey of amplitude-dependent whistler wave properties and analyzed their associated background plasma conditions and electron fluxes in the plasmasphere and plumes. Our findings indicate that extremely large amplitude (>400 pT) whistler waves (a) tend to occur at L > 4 over the midnight-dawn-noon sectors and have small wave normal angles; (b) are more likely to occur during active geomagnetic conditions associated with higher fluxes of anisotropic electrons at 10 s keV energies; and (c) tend to occur at higher latitudes up to 20 degrees with increasing amplitude. These results suggest that extremely large amplitude whistler waves in the plasmasphere and plumes could be generated locally by injected electrons during substorms and further amplified when propagating to higher latitudes. Plain Language Summary Whistler mode waves are known as one of the primary drivers of precipitating energetic electrons from the Earth's radiation belts into the upper atmosphere. We utilize plasma wave observations from the Van Allen Probes mission and conduct a survey of whistler mode waves inside the plasmasphere and plumes, which are plasma regions surrounding the Earth and filled with high-density cold electrons. Statistical results indicate that extremely large amplitude whistler waves are more likely to occur at large L shells (L shell is defined as the distance from magnetic field lines to the center of the Earth at the magnetic equator) in the post-midnight sectors during active geomagnetic conditions associated with high fluxes of tens of keV electrons exhibiting anisotropic pitch angle distributions (with a flux peak in the direction that is perpendicular to the background magnetic field). These waves tend to occur at higher latitudes with increasing amplitude. Results suggest that these waves could be generated locally by injected electrons during substorm activity and may be further amplified when propagating to higher latitudes.