Ann. Geophys.

, 25, 823831, 2007

www.ann-geophys.net/25/823/2007/
European Geosciences Union 2007

Annales
Geophysicae

A quantitative test of Jones NTC beaming theory using CLUSTER

constellation
S. Grimald1 , P. M. E. Decreau1 , P. Canu2 , X. Suraud1 , X. Valli`eres1 , F. Darrouzet3 , and C. C. Harvey4
1 Laboratoire

de Physique et Chimie de lEnvironnement (LPCE), Orleans, France

dEtude des Environnements Terrestre et Planetaires (CETP), Velizy, France
3 Belgian Institute for Space Aeronomy (IASB-BIRA), Brussels, Belgium
4 Centre dEtude Spatiale des Rayonnements (CESR), Toulouse, France
2 Centre

Received: 29 March 2006 Revised: 8 January 2007 Accepted: 13 February 2007 Published: 29 March 2007

Abstract. Non-thermal continuum (NTC) radiation is, with

auroral kilometric radiation (AKR), one of the two electromagnetic emissions generated within the Earths magnetosphere and radiated into space. The location of the source
of NTC has been sought for several decades, with only limited success. The constellation formed by the four CLUSTER spacecraft provides the possibility of triangulation in
the vicinity of the source, thus allowing progress in source localisation, while simultaneously revealing the beaming properties of NTC radio sources.
We present a case event showing two beams localised on
opposite sides of the magnetic equator. At any selected frequency, triangulation points to a single region source of small
size. Its position is compatible with the range of possible loci of sources predicted by the radio window theory of
Jones (1982) in a frame of constraints relaxed from the simple sketch proposed in early works. The analysis of similar
observations from the Dynamics Explorer 1 by Jones et al.
(1987) enabled the authors to claim validation of the radio
window theory. CLUSTER observations, however, reveal a
large beaming cone angle projected onto the ecliptic plane,
a feature unobservable by Dynamics Explorer which had a
different spin axis orientation. According to the radio window theory, such a large observed cone angle can only be
formed by a series of point sources, each beaming in a narrow cone angle. This study demonstrates the difficulty of
validating NTC linear generation mechanisms using global
beaming properties alone.
Keywords. Magnetospheric physics (Plasmasphere) Radio science (Radio wave propagation)

Correspondence to: S. Grimald

(grimald@cnrs-orleans.fr)

Introduction

Non-thermal continuum (NTC) radiation is an incoherent

broadband electromagnetic radiation of low intensity and
long duration which is observed in the frequency range from
a few 100 Hz to several 100 kHz. It has been observed in
the Earths environment (Gurnett, 1975; Etcheto et al., 1982;
Morgan and Gurnett, 1991; Kasaba et al., 1998; Decreau et
al., 2004), as well as in the environment of other magnetized
planets (Kurth, 1992). Terrestrial NTC is widely believed to
be generated at the plasmapause, a region of strong density
gradient, by conversion of electrostatic to electromagnetic
waves. The electrostatic source has been suggested to be the
intense UHR (Upper Hybrid Resonance) waves found at the
geomagnetic equator and close to the plasmapause (Gough
et al., 1979). The spacing between narrow spectral features
has been related to the gyrofrequency at the source (Kurth
et al., 1981). The implied underlying scenario is detailed by
Gough (1982). Near the plasmapause, plasma frequency decreases rapidly with increasing radial distance, crossing several successive electron gyro-harmonic frequencies in only a
short distance. It is assumed that strong electrostatic waves
are produced, offset in frequency from each harmonic by a
similar amount. Conversion of these waves to electromagnetic waves yields a series of narrow-band continuum radiation features, separated in frequency by approximately the
electron gyrofrequency, which is quasi-uniform within the
plasmapause layer.
Various mechanisms have been proposed to explain the
wave conversion (Barbosa, 1982). The most developed theory is the linear one which supposes a conversion through
propagation of the electrostatic UHR wave into an electromagnetic Z-mode wave (Jones, 1976). When aligned nearly
parallel or anti-parallel to the ambient magnetic field, these
Z-mode waves would produce NTC by conversion to the ordinary mode; this is the so-called radio window for waves
at the local plasma frequency Fpe (Budden, 1980; Jones,

Published by Copernicus GmbH on behalf of the European Geosciences Union.

824

S. Grimald et al.: A quantitative test of Jones NTC beaming theory

70
60

Frequency (kHz)

50
40
06:55:02

07:00:36

07:05:21

07:10:10

07:14:53
dB

80
0

60
50

60
0

40

40
0

30
20

20
0

10

22
UT 06:35
R(Re) 4.49
Lat() -11.67

06:45
4.42
-5.68

06:55
4.38
0.46

07:05
4.35
6.70

07:15
4.33
13.01

MLT(h) 10.77
L
4.61

10.83
4.41

10.89
4.31

10.96
4.34

11.04
4.50

Fig. 1. Spectrograms of natural emissions observed on 26 September 2003 by the WHISPER instrument on board C3 satellite. Top:
Frequency/time positions of intensity maxima in the 4080 kHz
band. The lower maxima were suppressed (see text). Bottom:
Frequency/time spectrogram in the 280 kHz frequency band. The
white line indicates the position of local plasma frequency, and the
bar above the spectrogram shows the status of each spectrum (white:
data gap; black: clean spectrum; green: saturated spectrum).

1980). Thereafter the strong density gradient at the plasmapause causes these two ordinary mode waves, initially at the
local plasma frequency and propagating nearly parallel and
anti-parallel to the magnetic field, to be refracted outwards
to form two beams located symmetrically with respect to
the magnetic equator in the plane through the source containing the density gradient and the magnetic field. As they
propagate to regions of lower density the inclination angle
of these beams with respect to the magnetic equatorial approaches:
r

= atan Fce Fpe ,
(1)
where Fce (electron cyclotron frequency) and Fpe (electron
plasma frequency) are defined at the source.
Such a quantitative property is extremely useful because
it allows us to link a given NTC observation (position of the
observatory and frequency of the wave) to the locus of the positions of candidate sources, thus remotely sensing the topology of active regions. Promoting the linear radio window
theory, Jones (1983) developed the remote sensing approach,
and even treated the problem of sources in movement. As
long as the derived source positions and movement are realistic and in particular when the results agree with source
localisation derived from directivity measurements, the observations have supported the radio window conversion theory (see Jones et al., 1987, for a claim of validation of the
theory). However, other experimental observations suggest
that the simple single source two beams picture is too
Ann. Geophys., 25, 823831, 2007

simplistic. For example, Morgan and Gurnett (1991), in a

statistical study using Dynamics Explorer 1 (DE1) data, have
shown that the existence of two symmetrical beams is very
rare, suggesting that asymmetries in the density profile or
in the magnetic field may be responsible. Furthermore, another important feature of NTC observations, the presence of
a series of very narrow band structures more closely spaced
than Fce , has led to the proposal of another generation mechanism: strong upper hybrid turbulence (Christiansen et al.,
1984).
In this paper, we analyse a double beam case event
observed with the CLUSTER constellation, similar to the
DE1 case event analysed by Jones et al. (1987). We discuss
not only beaming properties, but also details of the spectral
structure. Compared to a single spacecraft, the four CLUSTER satellites offer major advantages: spectral characteristics viewed from the different platforms can be compared,
and spatial/temporal variations disentangled. We present
the observations, and then (Sect. 2) use the approach which
Jones et al. (1987) applied to DE1 data to examine where
NTC sources would be located according to the radio window theory (Sect. 3). Finally, we discuss the quality and limitations of the test, as well as other findings derived from this
study (Sect. 4).

2
2.1

Observations
CLUSTER constellation and data

The CLUSTER mission consists of four identical satellites

(which we denote here by C1, C2, C3 and C4) in a tetrahedral
configuration. They travel in a near-polar orbit with perigee
located at 4.5 RE near the ecliptic. On 26 September
2003, the inter-spacecraft separation distances lay between
300 km (C2C3) and 1200 km (C1C4); near perigee,
where the CLUSTER configuration is elongated along the direction of the orbital velocity. The four CLUSTER satellites
crossed the magnetic equator between 06:40 and 07:00 UT
at about 11:00 MLT.
Observations presented in this paper are derived mainly
from the WHISPER instruments, four sounders which measure the naturally occurring electric field in the frequency
range (280 kHz) when in passive mode of operation, and
the characteristic frequencies of the plasma in the range (2
80 kHz) when in active mode of operation (Decreau et al.,
2001). Each satellite measures the electric field with a double sphere antenna spinning in a plane nearly parallel to the
ecliptic. The bottom part of Fig. 1 presents a frequencytime spectrogram of electric field measured by WHISPER
in its passive mode on board C3. The time interval shown,
06:3507:15 UT, includes the phenomenon of interest, i.e.
NTC emissions, present on both sides of the equator, at frequencies above the plasma frequency Fpe , indicated by a
solid white line. At about 06:53 UT C3 crossed the magnetic
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S. Grimald et al.: A quantitative test of Jones NTC beaming theory

equator, where localised intense electrostatic emissions are
seen at frequencies (n+1/2) Fce lying below Fpe . Such emissions, first observed on board OGO 5 (Kennel et al., 1970),
co-exist in this event with equatorial emissions above Fpe at
the Bernstein frequencies Fqs (Bernstein, 1958); this identification is confirmed by the sounder in active mode. The
latter emissions could be a primary (electrostatic) source of
NTC, invoked in the nonlinear decay generation mechanism
proposed by Ronnmark (1985). Additional intense emissions
are observed on each side of the magnetic equator, just above
the plasma frequency (near upper hybrid frequency); they appear to be intensifications of a signal at the upper hybrid frequency which is present nearly continuously between 06:43
and 07:00 UT. The southern intensification occurred around
06:49 UT and the northern one around 06:58 UT. During the
first enhancement, the receiver saturates, creating spurious
replicas (roughly 10 kHz apart) of the real emission which
was at about 38 kHz. These intense emissions observed near
plasma frequency in the plasmapause layer on each side of
the magnetic equator are the other candidates for primary
sources of NTC.
NTC emissions are seen in the frequency range 45
75 kHz. They display a periodic time variation, due to the
spin modulation of the signal. Actually, the apparent period
is a stroboscopic effect due to the combination of a half-spin
period (2 s) with the sequencing period of instruments operations (52 s). In addition, the emissions are structured in
narrow frequency bands, stable in frequency and very slowly
varying in time. To compensate for the stroboscopic effect,
each frequency spectrum obtained during a single acquisition
interval has been normalized to the dynamical spectrum covered by the spectrum (after this treatment, all spectra present
intensities varying between the same two levels, minimum
and maximum). Then, in each spectrum, all intensity maxima (frequency peaks) have been identified, and only those
placed above a chosen intensity level have been selected. The
result is displayed in the top panel of Fig. 1. This treatment
highlights a series of quasi-monochromatic emissions (horizontal lines) of a few minutes duration, appearing, for example, at about 54.7, 57.8, 60.6 and 62.0 kHz near 07:08 UT on
C3. This detailed frequency pattern is identified at exactly
(180 Hz) the same frequencies and the same time (2 s),
on all four spacecraft. This indicates that, whether or not
all frequencies are produced by the same source, the beams
are wide enough to illuminate all four spacecraft. However,
the different satellites are illuminated at different intensities,
indicating a finite beam size, as discussed below.
2.2

Derived quantities

Assuming that this NTC radiation is electromagnetic and

propagating in the O mode (quasi-circular polarisation), the
spin modulation can be used to determine the projection
of the direction of propagation onto the antenna spin plane
(Calvert, 1985; Gurnett, 1975; Gough, 1982; Kasaba et al.,
www.ann-geophys.net/25/823/2007/

825

Frequency (kHz)
80

Whisper C3 26/09/2003

Modulation (%)
100.00
80.00

60

60.00
40.00
20.00

40
(a) Modulation in XY GSE plane

0.00

80

ak angle (deg)
180
154

60

108
72

40

36

(b) Directivity in XY GSE plane

6:35

6:45

6:55

7:05

7:15 UT

Fig. 2. Parameters derived from spin modulation of electric field

intensity, plotted as frequency/time spectrograms: (a) modulation
index m; (b) directivity angle ak. The orange arrows point to the
high modulation regions.

1998; Decreau et al., 2004). Figure 2 presents the frequency/time evolution of the two parameters which are derived from this process. The upper panel (a) displays the
modulation index m (ratio of modulated to total power) and
the lower panel (b) the directivity angle ak (angle between X
GSE axis and ray path direction, projected onto the XY GSE
plane, where GSE refers to the geocentric solar ecliptic system). Occurrences of the high modulation index (m>73%,
indicated by orange arrows) are visible on both sides of the
equator, between 57 and 62 kHz in the Southern Hemisphere
and between 57 and 77 kHz in the Northern Hemisphere.
They present a stratified structure, like the frequency peaks
in Fig. 1. The frequencies of the lines of the high modulation index correspond to those peaks in the spectral power.
Note that the frequency/time occurrence of a high modulation index does not correspond to any well-delimited region
with specific ak angles in Fig. 2b. In other words, the source
of the less modulated emissions appears to be located in the
same general direction as the source of the highly modulated
emission.
When more than one satellite is available, the projections
onto the spin planes of the various ray paths can be used
to estimate source positions by triangulation (Gough, 1982;
Decreau et al., 2004). If the source is stable with time, a single spacecraft can provide the information using ray paths at
different times (Morgan and Gurnett, 1991). Only a 2-D picture of directivity can be achieved from such measurements
in the XY GSE plane, as from CLUSTER. Figure 3 displays
the orbits of C2 and C4 projected into this plane. The source
directions for the emission at 70 kHz are drawn (in blue)
from C4 in the Southern Hemisphere and (in red) from C2
in the Northern Hemisphere. The other spacecraft provide
Ann. Geophys., 25, 823831, 2007

826

S. Grimald et al.: A quantitative test of Jones NTC beaming theory

70 kHz

61.2 kHz

10

C1
C2
C3

C4

-5
Magnetic
-10
latitude (deg)
0

Fig. 3. Triangulation in XY GSE plane. Directivity lines drawn

from C4 in the Southern Hemisphere (blue lines) and from C2 in the
Northern Hemisphere (red lines) for the 70-kHz emission indicate
a source (grey star) further from the Earth than the source position
estimated according to the radio window beaming theory (yellow
triangle). The arrows give the trajectories of C2 and C4.

similar information in both hemispheres. A source direction

is plotted only when the modulation index is large enough
(40%) to determine the ak angle with a precision of 2 . It
is remarkable that all the lines cross in the same region, thus
pointing to a source region stable over the total time interval (06:3507:15 UT). This source region, indicated by the
grey star, is small, about 0.25 RE in diameter in the equatorial plane, located at about 4.15 RE from the ZGSE axis. In
fact, the triangulation technique defines only a column perpendicular to the common spin plane. The ZGSE coordinate
of the source within this column is uncertain. Amongst other
factors, the modulation index is determined by the inclination
angle of the ray with respect to spin plane, and this provides
a crude indication about the Z position of the source. But the
uncertainty of such an estimate is too large, however, to allow
for localization in 3-D. In any case, the 2-D result obtained
can be compared to source positions estimated from the theory. Finally, we note that projected directivity lines cover a
large range of azimuth angle, of 60 deg or more when combining both hemispheres. This provides an estimation of the
cone angle size, projected onto the XY GSE plane, of the
double beam emitted from the source region. We will return
to this.

3
3.1

Test of Jones theory

Basic beaming configuration

The first approach we have followed is to test the simple configuration proposed by Jones (1981), summarized in Sect. 1
and sketched in Fig. 4. The hypotheses used are:
Ann. Geophys., 25, 823831, 2007

10 20 0
20
40
Amplitude (10-7 Vrms.Hz-1/2)

Fig. 4. Left: NTC beams (orange) and constellation configuration at

perigee; the arrow denotes the direction of motion. Right: latitudinal profiles (in SM coordinates) of the electric field amplitude measured from the four CLUSTER platforms at 70 kHz and 61.2 kHz.
The colour coding is shown on the right.

A radio window is located in the equatorial plane of a dipolar magnetic field, in a smooth radial density gradient; and it
radiates two narrow beams inclined symmetrically with respect to the equatorial plane, at an angle satisfying Eq. (1).
A second important constraint, which we will call here
condition (2), is that the two principal ray paths are located
in the plane containing the local magnetic field B and the
density gradient vector N at the source. Actually, it is in
the frame of this second constraint that Eq. (1) is derived.
A third hypothesis is that N is along the local radial axis,
so that the ray paths are in the magnetic meridian plane, with
B being aligned along the Z axis.
Fourthly, the spacecraft making the observations are assumed to travel in this meridian.
The panels on the right of Fig. 4 display the electric field
amplitude at two frequencies, as determined on all four satellites, as a function of latitude in the solar magnetic (SM)
system, which is close to the simple dipole geometry of
the theory. At 70 kHz each satellite observed two maxima, one in each hemisphere, and a minimum near the magnetic equator. The amplitude peaks are almost equidistant
in magnetic latitude (3.94 0.5 ) from the magnetic equator
and, to a first approximation, the satellites really do observe
two beams symmetrically placed with respect to the equator.
Note that the amplitude seen by C3 has been capped above
2108 Vrms . Hz1/2 , to take account of amplifier saturation when C3 encounters intense electrostatic emission (as in
Fig. 1).
As indicated in Fig. 4, C1 is the first satellite of the constellation to cross the beams, while C4 is the last. The four
amplitude profiles are very similar, which indicates that the
structure did not evolve significantly between their observation by C1 and by C4, that is, a time delay of about 3.5 min.
The latitudinal width of the beam at half intensity, 5 , is
larger than the 2.25 latitudinal separation between C1 and
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S. Grimald et al.: A quantitative test of Jones NTC beaming theory

C4; this is consistent with the observation, already noted in
Sect. 2.1, that a given spectral detail can be observed simultaneously by the complete constellation.
Latitudinal electric field amplitude profiles at other frequencies also show evidence of a double beam configuration. The two beams tend to move away from the magnetic
equator with decreasing frequency, as illustrated in the right
panel of Fig. 4. This is predicted by Eq. (1): the beaming
angle depends upon the ratio Fce /Fpe , at the radio window,
which is where Fpe is equal to the frequency of the observed
NTC. Furthermore, Fce variations are small compared to Fpe
variations in the plasmapause region. Hence, emissions at
higher frequencies should propagate at smaller inclination
angles, and this is indeed the observed trend, except that it
is no longer true at the lowest frequencies, where the double
beam picture is only a crude approximation. For example, in
Fig. 4, at 61.4 kHz, the southern beam splits into two parts
which, indeed, are seen in different directions (the directivity
angles in XY GSE plane differ by 20 (not shown)). Such
behaviour indicates the presence of two active sources at different MLT positions. We will now examine the radiation at
70 kHz, which presents a symmetric double beam which is
easier to compare with theoretical expectations.
Following Jones (1981) and equations therein, we have
calculated the radial position RS of the 70 kHz radio window from the position of the satellite when the peak of intensity at this frequency was observed: geocentric distance
RC =4.36 RE and geomagnetic latitude =3.4 . In practice,
we have slightly modified Jones equation: we still use a
dipolar model of the magnetic field, but instead of using
the gyrofrequency f0 at the Earths surface as the reference value, we use the gyrofrequency fCC measured at the
satellites. The calculation finally leads to RS =3.8 RE , with
=24.5 and fCS =14.5 kHz, where fCS is the gyrofrequency
at the radio window. The field at this source location derived from a standard (Tsyganenko, 87) model of the magnetic field is fCS =14.45 kHz, in good agreement.
The source position, as derived above and projected onto
the XY GSE plane, is indicated by the yellow triangle in
Fig. 3. It is significantly closer to the Earth than the region
defined by the triangulation of all rays received at 70 kHz.
Furthermore, we note that the radial value RS =4.15 RE
which when projected onto XY GSE, would coincide with
the source region derived from triangulation, would require a
larger beaming angle, =51 . Such a high value would lead,
from Eq. (1), to a local (at the window) gyrofrequency of
107 kHz, which is higher than the frequency of observation
and incompatible with the radio window model. Moreover,
the difference between expected and observed radial values
(0.35 RE ) is too large to be attributed to the slight distance
between the radio window and the intersection of the two
emitted beams (see Fig. 4 of Jones, 1980). This distance,
1S, linked to the beam curvature of the Z wave in the density
gradient near the source, would place the real radio window
source somewhat further from the Earth than our estimation.
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827

The value 1S depends upon the actual density gradient in the

plasmapause layer. By reference to a modelled plasmapause
density profile (Carpenter and Anderson, 1992), and assuming, as shown in ray paths calculated by Jones (1976), that the
beam undergoes its total deviation within a layer where the
normalized square plasma frequency X varies between 0.9
and 1.4 (the density undergoing a variation of 50%), we obtain 1S=0.025 RE . This is effectively negligible when compared to 0.35 RE .
This first test demonstrates that the linear radio window
theory cannot be validated using such a simple geometrical
configuration. It is necessary to relax two assumptions: (i)
that sources and satellites are located in the same magnetic
meridian plane; (ii) that sources are in the equatorial plane.
We will now test the beaming angle Eq. (1) by successively
relaxing each of these assumptions, under the guidance of
Jones published work.
3.2

Complex beaming configuration

Jones (1982) generalized the remote sensing approach by expressing a visibility equation defining the loci in MLT and
radial position of equatorial sources which would illuminate,
at the centre of their beam, a spacecraft at a given position.
This visibility equation incorporates the beaming condition
of Eq. (1) and the condition (2), but conditions (3) and (4)
are partially relaxed: the density gradient N at the source,
no longer necessarily in the meridian plane, remains coplanar with the satellite-source line and the magnetic field at the
source. The top two panels of Fig. 5 display such visibility
contours, which are the loci of source positions in the equatorial plane which have the CLUSTER satellites at the centre
of their 70 kHz beam, respectively, in the Northern (Fig. 5a)
and Southern (Fig. 5b) Hemispheres. The four visibility contours are almost identical, as expected for such small interspacecraft separations. The green cross represents the position of C3 projected onto the equatorial plane, and the dashed
black line the magnetic meridian plane at that position. The
source plane determined by direction finding at times of peak
amplitude can be used to locate the source on the visibility contour; unfortunately, near peak amplitude the directivity determination is relatively poor (5 ) and provides only
mediocre directional information. Nevertheless, the results
indicate that the sources are not in the meridian plane of the
spacecraft (10.9 MLT), but at a later local time (11.2 MLT)
for northern beam, and at an earlier one (10.8 MLT) for
southern beam, strongly suggesting the existence of two separate sources. This may be compared with Fig. 5d, which
shows latitude and longitude of C3 and C4 (which hide, respectively, C2 and C1) when these spacecraft were illuminated by NTC beams. The magnetic field vector measured
at the equator is shown as an orange arrow. The split of the
beams between two different local time sectors corroborates
their split into two different hemispheres; there is no overlapping in MLT range, and none in latitudinal range. The
Ann. Geophys., 25, 823831, 2007

828

S. Grimald et al.: A quantitative test of Jones NTC beaming theory

YSM

YSM

(a)

(b)

XSM

XSM

YSM

(c)

(d)

XSM

Fig. 5. Geometrical results for 70 kHz radiation. Top: loci in

the equatorial plane of sources which would have the Cluster Cn
spacecraft, at the time it observes maximum amplitude at 70 kHz,
at the centre of their beam, and the corresponding directivity paths
(straight lines); colour codes for Cn as in Fig. 4. Panel (a) northern
beam (dashed green line: the locus and directivity for C3 if it were
1 latitude closer to the SM equator) and panel (b) for the southern beam. The green cross represents the position of C3, and the
dashed black line the projected magnetic meridian plane at that position. The grey star symbol shows the source position obtained by
triangulation and plotted in Fig. 3. Bottom: (c) loci in XY plane
of an off equatorial source (+0.65 latitude); (d) orbital positions
of the four spacecraft and measured magnetic field orientation at
equator (orange vector). Thick lines indicate the SM latitude and
longitude of C3 and C4 when the signal at 70 kHz was greater than
half the peak amplitude.

two peaks in electric field amplitude are encountered at 10.85

and 10.92 MLT (17.3 and 16.2 longitude), respectively,
in the Southern and Northern Hemispheres. Those positions
are qualitatively in accordance with source MLT positions
shown in Figs. 5a and b, but quantitatively at a significantly
smaller MLT separation. Moreover, the source position deduced from triangulation (grey star) is still at a larger geocentric distance than is compatible with the visibility contours.
The first conclusion of this study is that the apparent
source position is incompatible with the positions allowed
by the linear radio window theory. However, the discrepancy may not be so significant when we take into account the
measurement uncertainties. The uncertainty in the triangulated source longitude is about 0.12 RE . The uncertainty in
the latitude of the observed peak intensity can be evaluated
to 1 (from Fig. 4) and leads to an uncertainty in the derived radial position of about 0.2 RE . This is illustrated in
Fig. 5a, which displays the visibility curve for a spacecraft
placed at a latitude 1 below that of the estimated peak. A
second conclusion is that the visibility of the sources outside
the meridian plane must be considered, that is, longitudinal
Ann. Geophys., 25, 823831, 2007

beaming properties. Such a discussion is necessary by the

following critical observational fact: the comparison of the
size of each illuminated orbit elements (0.4 RE ) with the
distance from source to satellite position (0.6 RE ), indicates that the beaming angle is large (40 ). Such a large
value when the radio window theory predicts angular beam
widths of about 2 (Jones, 1982) indicates that irregular density gradients and perhaps spatially extended sources should
be considered.
We examine further the observed directivity pattern
(Fig. 3) in light of the second beaming condition. In a simple
axi-symmetric plasmasphere model, the planes defined by B
and N at equatorial plasmapause (the radio window) are
meridians. In an axi-symmetric plasmasphere the only visible part of the active equatorial plasmapause layer is in the
local meridian of the CLUSTER spacecraft. Thus, the measured directions of arrival, being part of successive meridians, would all point to the centre of the Earth. That the
observed intersection (grey star, Fig. 3) is clearly not at the
Earths centre does not rule out the radio window theory. For
example, we can abandon the axi-symmetric plasmasphere
model.
CLUSTER travels eastward. The ray paths point initially
(when below the equator) to a sector earlier than the local
meridian, and later (above the equator) to a later sector. This
can be realized either by a hollowed or by a bulged shape
plasmapause surface. In case of a hollow, the individual
sources would appear slightly closer to Earth than the focus point, and in case of a bulge they would appear slightly
closer to spacecraft. Undulations of the plasmapause surface
are necessarily associated with the density irregularities commonly observed in the plasmapause layer (Darrouzet et al.,
2004), with typical dimensions of a few hundred km. Moreover, those irregularities have been observed by the Cluster
constellation to be field aligned (Decreau et al., 2005), ruling
out undulations along the north-south direction. In our chosen event, a cross-field undulation could be present but undetectable by CLUSTER, because all spacecraft travel outside
the main plasmasphere body. A hollowed surface would explain all or part of the discrepancy between radial distances
of ray paths intersection and of expected radio window positions. This is the configuration retained for further discussion.
To conclude this discussion, we examine two possible interpretations of our observations:
1. A common point source is responsible for illuminating
a large segment of the orbit. This requires that the beam
cone is very large, at odds with beaming properties of
the radio window theory,
2. A series of point sources are seen successively by the
travelling spacecraft. These sources are embedded in
an undulating plasmapause surface, normal to the local
density gradient. Each source emits a narrow beam according to radio window theory, the centre of the beam
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S. Grimald et al.: A quantitative test of Jones NTC beaming theory

829

being inclined with respect to the density gradient at

an angle satisfying Eq. (1), in the plane containing the
magnetic field vector and the surface normal vector. As
central beams cover, a large angle range, together with
surface normals, they illuminate a large orbit element.
The high- and low-latitude limits of the illumination
would be due in such a case to the actual limit in
latitude or longitude of the overall emitting surface,
combined to beaming effects.

The assigned source position in Z is small, as compared

to the diameter of the source region in XY GSE plane
determined by triangulation. Since calculated visibility contours are very sensitive to the distance from the
source to equatorial plane, relaxing the condition of an
equatorial source opens so largely the domain region of
source positions satisfying Eq. (1) that, in the absence
of experimental 3-D source positioning, our test is not
fully conclusive.

According to the second scenario, the distance between the

emitting surface and the focus point would be proportional
to the radius of curvature of the surface. A concave surface
could, in particular, explain some or all of the distance between the apparent source located by triangulation and the
equatorial sources, closer to Earth, indicated by latitudinal
beaming. A quasi-cylindrical hollow (aligned with the magnetic field) of radius 0.3 RE would explain our estimation
of the observed distance.
We have, however, no practical means to evaluate the real
dimensions of plasmapause surface undulations in this case
event and, assuming that its radius of curvature is small, we
perform the last step of our quantitative test. We relax the
constraint on the latitude of the source. We have already
noted (Sect. 2) the likely crossing by C3 of non equatorial
sources (f38 kHz and +/2.5 latitude). Similarly, in
his model to fit the DE1 observations, Jones et al. (1987)
relaxed the constraint of the source being in the equatorial
plane. The DE1 spin plane was near the meridian, and hence
the 2-D source position estimations via directivity were in
this plane. The DE1 observations point to sources located
off the equator. Assuming a similar situation for our event
at f=70 kHz, by assigning a positive latitude at the source
we have modified the equations to obtain visibility contours
projected in the XY (SM) plane similar to the generalized
remote sensing contours displayed in Jones (1983). By varying the source latitude, we obtain visibility contours (Fig. 5c)
which perfectly match the source position (grey star) obtained from the triangulation. The corresponding magnetic
latitude, S =0.65 , is realistic, corresponding to a source distance above the equator similar (ZS 0.05 RE ) to that observed by DE1. We emphasise that the visibility contours
are very sensitive to the value of S . To complete the picture,
a complementary study should be conducted in the Southern
Hemisphere or better yet, the analysis should be conducted
separately in each hemisphere, starting from the source localisation by triangulation. However, the contours shown in
Fig. 5c are sufficient to demonstrate that a source location
satisfying Eq. (1) can be found.
The two points which emerge from this third step can be
summarised thus:

2. The second beaming property (beam coplanar with

magnetic field vector and gradient density at the source)
must also be satisfied. As discussed above, this property
can only be satisfied under the assumption of multiple
sources placed over a surface of a small radius curvature, possibly placed at a larger distance than the column highlighted by triangulation, and in addition, possibly placed at various positions in Z GSE.

1. We found a source position satisfying the first beaming

property of radio window theory (Eq. 1) and matching
the source position deduced from triangulation based
on 2-D directivity properties measured by CLUSTER.
www.ann-geophys.net/25/823/2007/

The practical conclusion is that the source positions constrained by the two beaming conditions of the NTC radio window theory are compatible with our observations
(at 70 kHz, in this particular case), provided that multiple
sources are being seen on curved plasmapause surface and
located slightly above the equator.
4

Summary and conclusion

We have analyzed an NTC emission event observed by the

CLUSTER constellation when near perigee in the dayside
MLT sector. This study has produced new results concerning
the experimentally derived properties of NTC radiation in the
vicinity of the source, and has led to an evaluation of the
validity of the radio window theory of NTC generation.
Experimentally observed NTC properties concern successive intensity, spectral features, beaming and directivity:
1. Intensity
The overall duration of the NTC emissions observed in the 35 to 75 kHz frequency range was
about 40 min, during which time there were distinctly different periods situated along two orbital
segments of length 0.4 RE , located on opposite
sides of the geomagnetic equator,
the emissions were stable for at least the time
(3.5 min) between crossings of a given position
by the two most widely separated (0.15 RE along
the orbital direction) satellites of the constellation.
2. Spectral features
Spectral analysis with 320-Hz frequency resolution
indicates that the emissions consist of a series of
narrow, closely spaced bands whose frequencies are
varying very slowly.
Ann. Geophys., 25, 823831, 2007

830

S. Grimald et al.: A quantitative test of Jones NTC beaming theory

3. Beaming
The two periods of signal intensification on opposite sides of the equator correspond to the satellites
crossing two spatial structures, that is, two NTC
beams bounded by either latitudinal or local time
boundaries,
at higher frequencies the observed NTC emission
showed clear, smooth enhancements on both sides
of the equator, but at lower frequencies more complicated variations (three or more signal intensifications) were observed south of the equator,
when the constellation is near the centre of one
of the beam structures, specific detailed spectral
signatures are observed simultaneously by all four
spacecraft.
4. Directivity
Directivity angles measured in the spin plane of
each spacecraft were, like the signal intensity,
mainly controlled by the position of observation
(relative to the stable beam structures), rather
than by the time of observation,
globally (over the entire frequency range) directivity angles varied gradually but significantly with
spacecraft position, in such a way that ray paths
point to a single apparent source region. We noted,
however, that when crossing the equatorial plane,
directivity angles changed by 20 , indicating a
global change of behaviour from south to north,
modulation indices confirmed the presence of narrow band frequency structures and that each of the
two (Southern and Northern) large-scale structures
exhibit different detailed features.
The implications of these observed properties as a test of the
radio window beaming theory can be summarized as follows:
1. At frequencies high enough for the double peak configuration to be clear, latitudinal beaming increases with decreasing frequency, as expected. The equatorial source
position derived quantitatively in the frame of the simple sketch of Jones beaming theory (equatorial source
and source-satellite line in the meridian plane) does not
match the position derived from triangulation.
2. The assumption of a single longitudinal beaming angle
from a single point source does not fit the observed directivity pattern. Compatibility with the radio window
theory would require at least a scenario with the source
region being an ensemble of small sources distributed
over an undulating plasmapause surface, hence widely
opening the longitudinal beaming angle.
Ann. Geophys., 25, 823831, 2007

3. Our refined estimation of source positions is compatible with triangulation results. We conclude that radio
window theory for NTC generation is compatible with
quantitative observed beaming properties.
This does not close the debate over which generation mechanism produces NTC radio emissions. The complex experimental context described above, as well as instrument limitations, do not allow us to constrain the source position within
a sufficiently small volume of space for the test to be conclusive. The radio window theory is as yet neither validated
nor invalidated. Further event studies, using different configurations of the CLUSTER constellation, may possibly provide more of a conclusive test. In addition, other points of
the radio-window theory, such as its efficiency, need to be
discussed, and other generation mechanisms also need to be
tested against the Cluster data.
Acknowledgements. We would like to thank the teams at ESOC
(Darmstadt), JSOC and Sheffield (UK) for their constant support
of CLUSTER operations.
Topical Editor I. A. Daglis thanks M. P. Gough and O. Santolik
for their help in evaluating this paper.

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