EGU21-14090
https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14090
EGU General Assembly 2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.

Electron Pitch Angle Distributions in the Compressional Pc5 Waves

Xiao Ma, Anmin Tian, Quanqi Shi, Shichen Bai, Ji Liu, Ruilong Guo, and Shutao Yao
Xiao Ma et al.
  • Shandong University, Space Sciences, Space Science and Physics, China (tamin@sdu.edu.cn)

In the two flanks of the Earth’s magnetosphere, the compressional Pc5 waves are often observed. Previous study suggests that these waves are usually excited by plasma pressure anisotropy such as drift mirror instability. Interestingly, whistler mode waves are often observed in the magnetic trough regions of the compressional Pc5 waves. In this study, we use 10 years (2007-2016) THEMIS A data to study the electron distributions in the compressional Pc5 waves associated with the whistler mode waves. We find three typical electron pitch angle distributions (PADs) in these compressional waves: cigar-shape, donut-shape and pancake-shape. They predominantly occur at tens to hundreds eV, several keV and >10 keV, respectively. The interaction effects between the electrons and whistler waves inside the magnetic troughs are stressed in understanding the formation of these PADs.

How to cite: Ma, X., Tian, A., Shi, Q., Bai, S., Liu, J., Guo, R., and Yao, S.: Electron Pitch Angle Distributions in the Compressional Pc5 Waves, EGU General Assembly 2021, online, 19–30 Apr 2021, EGU21-14090, https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-egu21-14090, 2021.