Some evidence of ground power enhancements at frequencies of global magnetospheric modes at low latitude

Abstract

A statistical analysis of the power spectra of the geomagnetic field components H and D for periods ranging between 3 min and 1 h was conducted at a low-latitude observatory (L'Aquila, L=1.6) at the minimum and maximum of the solar cycle. For both components, during daytime intervals, we found evidence of power enhancements at frequencies predicted for global modes of the Earth\'s magnetosphere and occasionally observed at auroral latitudes in the F-region drift velocities (approximately at 1.3, 1.9, 2.6, and 3.4 mHz). Nighttime observations reveal a relative low frequency H enhancement associated with the bay occurrence together with a peak in the H/D power ratio which sharply emerges at 1.2 mHz in the premidnight sector. The strong similarity between solar minimum and maximum suggests that these modes can be considered permanent magnetospheric features. A separate analysis on a two-month interval shows that the observed spectral characteristics are amplified by conditions of high-velocity solar wind.