Fine structure of plasmaspheric hiss

Plasmaspheric hiss has been widely regarded as a broadband, structureless, incoherent emission. In this study, by examining burst‐mode vector waveform data from the Electric and Magnetic Field Instrument Suite and Integrated Science instrument on the Van Allen Probes mission, we show that plasmaspheric hiss is a coherent emission with complex fine structure. Specifically, plasmaspheric hiss appears as discrete rising tone and falling tone elements. Our study comprises the analysis of two 1 h samples within which a total of eight 1 s samples were analyzed. By means of waveform analysis on two samples, we identify typical amplitudes, phase profiles, and sweep rates of the rising and falling tone elements. The exciting new observations reported here can be expected to fuel a reexamination of the properties of plasmaspheric hiss, including a further reanalysis of the generation mechanism for hiss. Key Points Plasmaspheric hiss is a coherent emission with complex fine structureHiss comprises discrete rising tone and falling tone elementsAmplitudes, phase profiles, and sweep rates of hiss elements are identified