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Abstract. Six specialized radio receivers were developed to measure the Doppler shift of amplitude modulation (AM) broadcast radio carrier signals due to ionospheric effects. Five were deployed approximately in a circle at a one-hop distance from an 810 kHz clear-channel AM transmitter in Schenectady, New York, and the sixth was located close to the transmitter, providing a reference recording. Clear-channel AM signals from New York City and Connecticut were also received. The experiment confirmed detection of traveling ionospheric disturbances (TIDs) and measurement of their horizontal phase velocities through monitoring variations in the Doppler shift of reflected AM signals imparted by vertical motions of the ionosphere. Comparison of 12 events with simultaneous global navigation satellite system (GNSS)-based TID measurements showed generally good agreement between the two techniques slightly more than half the time and substantial differences slightly less than half the time, with differences attributable to differing sensitivities of the techniques to wave altitude and characteristics within a complex wave environment. Detected TIDs had mostly southward phase velocities, and in four cases they were associated with auroral disturbances that could plausibly be their sources. A purely automated software technique for event detection and phase velocity measurement was developed and applied to 1 year of data, revealing that AM Doppler sounding is much more effective when using transmitter signals in the upper part of the AM band (above 1 MHz) and demonstrating that the AM Doppler technique has promise to scale to large numbers of receivers covering continent-wide spatial scales. 

Auroral radio emissions are of intrinsic interest as part of the Earth’s environment but also provide remote sensing of ionospheric conditions and processes and a laboratory for emission processes applicable to a wide range of space and astrophysical plasmas. At VLF and above, four broad classes of radio emissions occur. All have been observed with ground-based and, in some cases to a lesser degree, with space-based instruments. Related to each type of radio emission, many experimental and theoretical challenges remain, for example: explanations of frequency and time structure, relations to auroral substorms or current systems, and application to remote sensing of the auroral ionosphere. In some cases, basic parameters such as source heights or generation mechanisms are uncertain. Emerging technological advances such as cubesat fleets, ultra-large capacity disk drives, and software defined radio show promise for developing better understanding of auroral radio emissions. 

Theory and observations of Langmuir waves and turbulence induced in the auroral ionosphere by electron beams of magnetospheric-origin are reviewed. The theoretical discussions include a brief description of the electrostatic dispersion relation, excitation of Langmuir waves by electron beams, and the stability of beam distributions. The theory of Langmuir turbulence—including the parametric decay instability and wave collapse—is also briefly discussed. The main focus of the review, however, is on the observations of Langmuir waves and turbulence in the ionosphere by in-situ and ground-based sensors. A summary of five decades of in-situ wave and particle observations is presented and combined with a collection of more recent results from ground-based instruments. The ground-based observations include signatures of Langmuir turbulence in the form of coherent echoes in incoherent scatter radar measurements; signatures of electron beams in the form of auroral morphologies recorded by high-speed, high-resolution optical imagers; and electromagnetic emissions received on the ground at high latitudes. Uniting the various observations obtained by the vastly different sensors is shown to provide further insight into the micro-scale processes that occur in the ionosphere. Also discussed in this review is the potential of the ground-based sensors to provide a broader spatial and temporal context for single-point in-situ measurements of such processes. 

Abstract A low‐ and medium‐frequency (LF/MF) receiving system at South Pole Station, using a wide‐beam dipole antenna, measured continuous fully sampled waveforms of more than 100 LF auroral hiss events between June and October 2019. Spectra of fluctuations of LF auroral hiss intensity at selected frequencies between 110 and 530 kHz showed these are broadband, with spectral power monotonically decreasing to an upper bound typically 20–60 Hz, comparable to frequencies reported for optical flickering aurora. Occasionally intervals of periodic fluctuations in auroral hiss intensity occurred, in most cases lasting only tens of cycles. On September 1, 2019, periodic fluctuations lasted thousands of cycles during two 30‐s intervals, at frequencies 125–145 Hz. Close examination showed these to be dispersed with low frequencies arriving before high frequencies by approximately 4.5 ms per 100 kHz. Ray‐tracing calculations and consideration of the Temerin et al. (1986, 1993) mechanisms of flickering aurora shows that the September 1 flickering auroral hiss observations are consistent with resonant amplification of whistler mode noise by an electron beam accelerated and modulated by electromagnetic proton cyclotron waves originating near 4,500 km, with the wave excitation taking place at 2,000–3,000 km. 

Abstract Previous work suggests that Auroral Kilometric Radiation (AKR) leaks to low altitudes. To investigate this phenomenon, wideband wave measurements have been conducted simultaneously at South Pole, Antarctica, and at the Cluster satellites, during 35 intervals in 2018–2020. Leaked AKR is observed ∼5% of the time at South Pole and escaping AKR ∼31% of the time at Cluster satellites. Both types of AKR are composed of fine structure, and similar fine structure is often observed simultaneously in the AKR at the different locations. Around 0317 UT on 29 June 2020, identical features were observed simultaneously. Cluster interferometry shows that the footprint of the source field line during this event lies within a few hundred kilometers of South Pole. The estimated emitted power of the escaping AKR observed at Cluster in this event exceeds that of the leaked AKR observed at South Pole by many orders of magnitude, suggesting that mode conversion involved in generating leaked AKR is relatively inefficient. AKR fine structure which is identical at the two locations comprises ∼0.1%–0.3% of AKR observed at Cluster when the South Pole receiver operates, and ∼2% of AKR observed at South Pole when at least one Cluster satellite is tuned to the appropriate frequency range. The relatively low occurrence rates of coincident fine structure may be attributed partly to geometric and beaming considerations but also suggest that processes involved in generating leaked AKR at levels detectable at ground level have lower probability than those generating escaping AKR at levels detectable by distant spacecraft. 

Abstract Different types of incoherent scatter radar (ISR) echoes are observed associated with aurora, including some which have been interpreted as signatures of cavitating Langmuir turbulence (CLT). Akbari et al. (2013)https://doi.org/10.1002/jgra.50314discussed two instances of correlation between CLT and naturally occurring radio emissions called medium frequency burst (MFB) which occur at substorm onsets. Based on that observation, radio detections of MFB from Toolik Lake Observatory have been applied to investigate occurrence of CLT in ISR data from Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar and their possible correlation with MFB. Of 131 MFB events, 25 occurred within 15 min of an ISR echo detection, compared to 6 of 116 intervals of a control set with similar local time and seasonal distribution. The difference is significant at the 10⁻⁴level, suggesting that ISR echoes are more probable during substorm onset times identified using MFB as a proxy. However, only four observed ISR echoes coincident with one MFB event showed both specific characteristics consistent with CLT. Furthermore, investigation of the angle of arrival of MFB suggests that the electromagnetic emissions do not originate from the plasma volume where the ISR detects the echoes. The small number of coincident ISR echoes and MFB is expected due to the different volumes in which the emissions and the echoes are detected. 50% of the MFB events occurred within 20 min of a substorm onset independently identified versus 8% of the control set intervals, confirming the correlation of MFB with substorm onsets. 

Abstract Competing theories exist for the generation mechanism of auroral medium‐frequency burst (MFB). In an effort to constrain MFB source heights, this study analyzes 33 events in which MFB and auroral 2f_ceroar co‐occurred at Sondrestrom, Greenland. Using measurements from an array of receiving antennas, direction‐of‐arrival calculations indicate that in a given co‐occurrence, the elevation angle of MFB typically is higher than that of roar. Ray tracing is used to determine source heights of the MFB signals. Density profiles are obtained from the International Reference Ionosphere (IRI) and shifted in magnitude until each event's roar signals originate at heights where the frequency‐matching condition for 2f_ceroar generation is satisfied. This shifting method is validated using density measurements from the Sondrestrom incoherent scatter radar (ISR) facility for the two events with available ISR data. After shifting, ray tracing demonstrates that in 25 of the 33 events, burst originates at a height of about 200 km, lower than the typical altitude of peak electron density. However, ISR measurements show that the density profile is enhanced at low altitudes while MFB is observed, peaking in theEregion rather than theFregion. This finding implies that the MFB sources at 200 km are on the topside of the density peak, in a region of downward pointing density gradient, in qualitative agreement with the mechanism of MFB generation by Langmuir waves in the topside ionosphere. These results also suggest a new method of estimating density in the polar cap using roar signals to calibrate IRI profiles.