Study of oblique whistlers in the low-latitude ionosphere, jointly with the C/NOFS satellite and the World-Wide Lightning Location Network

Abstract

We use the C/NOFS satellite's Vector Electric Field Instrument (VEFI) to study the relationship of impulsive electron whistlers in the low-latitude ionosphere to lightning strokes located by the World-Wide Lightning Location Network (WWLLN). In order to systematize this work, we develop an automated algorithm for recognizing and selecting the signatures of electron whistlers amongst many Very Low Frequency (VLF) recordings provided by VEFI. We demonstrate the application of this whistler-detection algorithm to data mining of a ∼ two-year archive of VEFI recordings. It is shown that the relatively simple oblique electron whistler adequately accounts of the great majority of low-latitude oscillatory VLF waves seen in this study. © 2011 Author(s).