Effects of plasmaspheric density structure on the characteristics of geomagnetic ULF pulsations

The structure of plasmasphere plays an important role in determining properties of geomagnetic ULF pulsations such as Pi 2 pulsations and field line resonances (FLRs) in the Earth's magnetosphere. We have performed a 3-D MHD wave simulation to investigate the generation and propagation of ULF waves in dipole geometry. Various 3-D density structures are assumed, which include a relatively sharp density gradient and gradually less slopes at the plasmapause. The former condition can refer to the plasmasphere from local midnight to dawn, whereas the latter represents the region near noon to dusk where it bulges out. We show how Pi 2 pulsations and FLRs differentially appear at both multi-point satellite locations and ground stations for different local times. Our results suggest that 1) the local radial density structure significantly affects the peak frequencies for Pi 2 oscillations, while the polarization changes remain similar in the radial direction, and 2) the radial location of strong FLRs varies for different density profiles. It is also suggested how multi satellite measurements and ground-based observations can confirm this differential feature in space.