Observations of the spatial structure of electron precipitation pulsations using an imaging riometer

Abstract. Electron precipitation can be modulated by geomagnetic pulsation activity. This can be observed as pulsation of cosmic noise absorption as measured by riometers. Observations of such pulsations exhibiting field-line resonance and particle-driven characteristics using an imaging riometer are presented and the capability of the instrument to map their spatial structure is demonstrated. It is shown that for the events studied, the spatial variation of pulsation phase as measured by the riometer agrees with that inferred from ground-based magnetometers, whereas the spatial variation of pulsation amplitude may show a different structure. It is suggested that this is consistent with the mechanism proposed by Coroniti and Kennel (1970) where one would expect a fixed phase relationship between magnetic and absorption pulsations, but where the amplitude of the absorption pulsation can depend on several factors other than the amplitude of the magnetic pulsation.

Key words. Ionosphere (ionosphere–magnetosphere interactions; particle precipitation) – Magnetospheric physics (MHD waves and instabilities)