Comparison of three techniques for locating a resonating magnetic field line

Three techniques for locating field lines in the magnetosphere that contain standing ULF pulsations are compared using dynamic spectra. The first technique compares ratios of the H- and D-components of the magnetic field at a single site; the second examines the ratios of the H-components at neighboring sites along a magnetic meridian; and the third displays the phase difference between H-components at neighboring sites. We find that the H:D ratio at a single station appears to detect magnetospheric standing waves but not their precise location. In contrast, the dual station H-ratio technique is sensitive to resonances local to the stations and has advantages over the widely used phase-gradient technique. In contrast to the latter technique calculating the H-power ratio does not require precise timing and provides two resonant locations, not one. We also find that the stations used need not be strictly confined to a single magnetic meridian. Resonance signatures can be detected with stations up to 1300 km in east–west separation. In our initial data near L=2 multiple-harmonic structure is generally not observed. The resonant wave period, when assumed to be the fundamental of the standing Alfven wave, gives densities in the range 3000–8000 amu/cm 3. These mass densities agree with in situ observations at earlier epochs. The equatorial mass density varies most during the day (by over a factor of two for the case studied) at L=1.86 and much less (20%) at L=2.2. This is consistent with a constant upward flux of ions over this latitude range flowing into a flux tube whose volume increases rapidly with increasing L-value.