Comment on "Identification of widespread turbulence of dispersive Alfven waves" by K. Stasiewicz et al.

As shown above, the identification of broad-band ELF emissions as zero frequency Alfvénic structures on the basis of the observed δE/δB [S2000] is not justified, first because they assume, contrary to both their data and previous observations, that the turbulence is one-dimensional, and second because the proposed solution is not unique. The observed ULF/ELF turbulence may be Alfvénic, and Doppler-shifted ULF turbulence may contribute significantly to the measured ELF wave power. Indeed, even a dominant contribution from Doppler-shifted ULF turbulence would still leave enough wave power at fcO+ to account for ion conic formation by cyclotron resonant heating. © Copyright 2001 by the American Geophysical Union.