Properties of EMIC Waves and EMIC Wave-Driven Electron Precipitation in Subauroral Latitudes Observed at Athabasca, Canada

Abstract

Electromagnetic ion cyclotron (EMIC) waves are believed to cause the loss of relativistic electrons from the outer radiation belt into the atmosphere due to pitch angle scattering. However, it is still unclear whether all EMIC waves can scatter relativistic electrons or which conditions are favorable for pitch angle scattering by EMIC waves. In this study, we performed a 2-year data analysis of EMIC waves and EMIC wave-driven electron precipitation (EP), from 1 November 2016–31 October 2018. Electromagnetic ion cyclotron waves were observed using a ground-based magnetometer installed at Athabasca (ATH, $L=$4.3), Canada. Electron precipitation events were identified from very low-frequency radio waves propagated from the transmitters at North Dakota (NDK, $L=$3.0) and Seattle (NLK, $L=$2.9) stations in USA to the receiver installed at ATH. The magnetic local time dependence of EMIC waves showed higher occurrence rates in the dawn sector. In contrast, EMIC waves accompanied by EP were localized in the dusk sector and were likely to occur during geomagnetic substorms. We found that EMIC waves accompanied by EP were associated with the main phase of geomagnetic storms and occurred inside the plasmapause. These results suggest that the EMIC waves that cause EP occur in the overlap region between the ring current and dense cold plasma during the main phase of geomagnetic storms. This is consistent with previous studies describing that the electron resonant energy with EMIC waves is lower in regions with high plasma density.