Resonant excitation of whistler wave via Cherenkov emission by sweeping radio frequency heated hot spot across the equatorial electrojet

A new and efficient scheme of resonant excitation of whistlers via Cherenkov emission in an equatorial electrojet by sweeping the heater in phase with the desired mode is investigated. The equatorial ionosphere around the maximum electron density, at a height of ∼100 km, is a suitable ionosphere duct for guided propagation of very low frequency whistler waves over long distances. This ionosphere duct also has a horizontal electrojet current across the ambient magnetic field. A ground-based high-gain, high-power radio frequency antenna array with a frequency of around 3.7 MHz can locally heat the ionosphere and modify the electrojet, and a hot spot is generated. By sweeping the hot spot along the magnetic field at the phase velocity of a whistler, one can resonantly excite the whistler wave via Cherenkov emission. These whistlers can trap and accelerate the charged particles to very high energies in the ionosphere.