CHARACTERISTICS OF WHISTLER PROPAGATION AT WUCHANG AND THEIR CORRELATION WITH GEOMAGNETIC ACTIVITY

In this paper,the general characteristics of low-latitude whistler propagation is investigated by analysing the data obtained at Wuchang (geom.lat.19.2°N) for last three years.Attention is paid to the study of whistler propagation paths.Besides,a closed examination is made of the correlation between the whistler parameters at Wuchang and ionospheric electron concentration,as well as the geomagnetic activity.A good correlation has been found between whistler dispersion and f₀F₂.It is also shown that there exists a type of whistler with stationary dispersion values,the occurrence rate of which is much higher than other types.This is one of the remarkable features of whistlers at Wuchang,showing that in the low-latitude ionosphere region there possibly exist stationary and recurrent whistler propagation paths.In addition,analysis of typical events and statistical calculation both show that the occurrence rate of whistlers increases considerably during magnetic storms.The dispersion value slightly increases following the SSC of the storms,the amplitude of the increase being 118-137% of the monthly mean value.