Indications of the Impact of the Influence of Large-Scale Atmospheric Disturbances on Quasiperiodic ELF/VLF Emissions Inside the Plasmasphere

The models of excitation of quasiperiodic ELF/VLF emissions with spectral shape repetition periods from 10 to 300 s are discussed. The primary cause of quasiperiodic (QP) emissions is cyclotron instability of electron radiation belts. Relatively slow processes of cyclotron instability evolution are well described within the framework of the plasma magnetospheric maser (PMM) theory based on the averaged self-consistent system of quasilinear equations for particles and waves. The presence of an eigen-frequency of oscillations of PMM parameters allows explaining many properties of QP 1 emissions, in which not very clear spectral bursts are hiss with resonant modulation mainly near the upper spectral boundary by geomagnetic pulsations of the Pc 3–4 range. The analysis of the general problem of equilibrium of radiation belts shows the possibility of its instability, which is caused by the difference in the pitch-angle dependences of the particle source power and the steady state distribution function. In the nonlinear mode of the specified instability, QP 2 emissions are formed, often with an increase in frequencies in individual spectral bursts. This paper mainly focuses on the study of QP 2 emissions with both a normal and an atypical time structure, as well as with large and fast dynamics of the frequency spectrum. Periodic large-scale atmospheric disturbances with a suitable frequency on the ionosphere can significantly affect the operating modes of the PMM and, as a consequence, the quasiperiodic VLF emissions in the magnetosphere. Infrasonic waves at the altitudes of the E region of the ionosphere can provide excitation of atypical quasiperiodic emissions due to a change in the reflection coefficient of whistler waves from the ionosphere from above. The obtained results are important for interpreting observational data on emissions associated with large-scale processes in the atmosphere. To analyze the magnetosphere response to earthquakes, observation data from the Van Allen Probe spacecraft were used. Also, specific examples of quasiperiodic emissions, probably associated with large-scale atmospheric processes, were obtained during the analysis of observational data.