资源环境科技发展态势分析平台

Low Earth orbit satellites frequently encounter Pc1 pulsations, but most have been observed with limited latitudinal extent or short lifetime. In this study we analyze two large-scale Pc1 pulsations (both latitudinally wide and long-lasting) generated by ionospheric ducting effect using Swarm and ground magnetometers on 25 June and 3 September 2015. Swarm observed the 25 June pulsations on both dayside and nightside during the storm time substorm (a strong geomagnetic storm on 23 June with D-st = - 204 nT). We found the Pc1 pulsations were pervasive in both magnetic local time sectors of dayside and nightside for at least 2 hr. Another large Pc1 pulsation on 3 September was observed during a nonstorm substorm period. We conclude that (1) ionospheric ducting can transmit Pc1 waves to a wide range of L shells, (2) geomagnetic storm is not a prerequisite for such large-scale ducting, and (3) wave intensity can abruptly decrease across sharp gradients in the ionospheric plasma density.