GEOPHYSICS, ASTRONOMY, AND ASTROPHYSICS: ULF Waves Associated with Solar Wind Deceleration in the Earth's Foreshock

Abstract

Characteristics of ULF waves associated with the solar wind deceleration in the Earth's foreshock on 6-7 April 2003 is studied using the wave telescope technique. In the satellite frame, the ULF waves are the left-handed polarized and quasi anti-parallel propagating mode, with a power peak at about 18.63 mHz. The wave vector in the GSE coordinates is estimated to be κ = (-4.29, 2.28, 1.21) × 10^-4 km^-1. In the solar wind frame, the frequency of waves becomes -9.39 mHz after the Doppler shift correction. The propagation direction of the waves is thus reversed and correspondingly the polarization of the waves becomes right-handed. The above-mentioned characteristics of the ULF waves in the solar wind frame indicate that the ULF waves associated with the solar wind deceleration are the Alfven-whistler waves, which have been frequently reported in both the observations and computer simulations.