Plasma waves observed during cusp energetic particle events and their correlation with Polar and Akebono satellite and ground data

We present Polar plasma wave data during cusp energetic particle (CEP) events at 6-9 R-E. These data suggest the presence of coherent electrostatic structures that are highly localized and that have typical velocities on the order of hundreds to thousands of km/s along the ambient magnetic field. Some of the wave signatures are solitary waves and some are wave packets. The Polar wave instrument also provides evidence that some of the bursts of electromagnetic waves (with frequencies of a few hundred Hz and just below the electron cyclotron frequency around 800 Hz to 1-2 kHz) that are observed are coherent and propagating both up and down the field lines. Electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) waves are often detected but their duration is usually short (< 1 s). Low Frequency (< 1 kHz), broadband, bursty electromagnetic waves are also present. The Polar wave data results are used to obtain a better understanding of the macro/microphysics during a CEP event that takes place on September 11, 1996, by correlating various Polar (similar to 7.0 R-E) and Akebono (similar to 1.4 R-E) data while both spacecraft are in or near the cusp/cleft region and nearly on the same field line, and magnetometer data from the Canadian Intermagnet and Canopus ground stations, which lie near the base of the magnetic footprint passing through Polar. Solar wind and magnetic field data from the interplanetary medium and magnetosheath are provided by the Geotail and IMP-8 satellites, respectively. Some of the cusp waves may be indicators of the reconnection process taking place through the cusp, the result of mixing of magnetosheath with magnetospheric plasma, and the consequence of an anisotropic electron population in a depressed magnetic field. The low frequency electromagnetic waves are still under study to determine their role, if any, in the heating and acceleration of the MeV He ions during CEP events. (C) 1999 COSPAR, Published by Elsevier Science Ltd.