New insights into the Non Thermal Continuum radiations: The Cluster Whisper perspective

Patrick Canu (1) , Pierrette Décréau (2) , S. Rochel Grimald

1 LPP - Laboratoire de Physique des Plasmas
2 LPC2E - Laboratoire de Physique et Chimie de l'Environnement et de l'Espace

The Whisper instruments on board each of the four Cluster spacecraft exploring the Earth magnetosphere, routinely observe the Non Thermal Continuum emissions (NTC). The various and combined points of view provided by 4 spacecraft in the 2-80 kHz frequency range allow the detection of the different forms of these emissions, narrow band and broad band, emitting from source regions in the plasmapause boundary layer, close to the magnetic equator but also at mid latitude. This paper presents selected examples of new knowledge gained on the NTC radiations, locations and mechanisms, coming from the 15 years of observations of Cluster-Whisper.

Mots clés: K-band; FMCW; rain radar; low transmitted power; high resolution; rainfall; melting layer

Domaines: Physique des plasmas [physics.plasm-ph]; Astrophysique [astro-ph]

Patrick Canu, Pierrette Décréau, S. Rochel Grimald. New insights into the Non Thermal Continuum radiations: The Cluster Whisper perspective. URSI AP-RASC, Aug 2016, SEOUL, South Korea. ⟨hal-02752276⟩