Propagation Characteristics of Whistler-Mode Chorus during Geomagnetic Activities

A recently introduced ray-tracing method is adopted to study the propagation characteristics of whistler-mode chorus during different geomagnetic activities by using a global core plasma density model. Numerical calculations show that chorus waves tend to settle on a preferable magnetic shell L in the vicinity of the plasmapause. During high geomagnetic activity, the plasmapause position moves inward close to the Earth and chorus trajectories move inward together with plasmapause. The trajectory move closer to the plasmapause as θ increases. Chorus wave with lower frequencies will reflect multiple times while chorus wave with higher frequencies reflect once at the plasmapause before settling on the vicinity of the plasmapause. The current results present a first detailed study on the propagation characteristics of chorus during geomagnetic activities, and may account for the observation that chorus tends to be present in the vicinity of the plasmapause.