Hook whistlers observed at low latitude ground station Varanasi

Abstract

Abstract. Employing the Haselgrove ray tracing equations and a diffusive equilibrium model of the ionosphere, the propagation characteristics of hook whistlers recorded at lowqatitude ground station Varanasi (geomag. lat., 16~ are discussed. It is shown that the two traces of the hook whistlers are caused by the VLF waves radiated from the return stroke of a lightning discharge which after penetrating the ionosphere at two different entry points, propagated to the opposite hemisphere in the whistler mode and were received at 16 geomagnetic latitude. Further the crossing of ray paths for the same frequency leads to the explanation of the hook whistler. The lower and higher cut-off frequencies are explained in terms of their deviating away from the bunch of the recorded whistler waves and crossing of ray paths for the same frequency.