Characteristics of electron-ion whistlers and their application to ionospheric probing

In this communication the effect of ion temperature on the propagation of electron-ion whistlers in the ionosphere is investigated. A general expression including the effect of ion temperature is derived for the group travel time for the electron-ion whistler as it travels from the base of the ionosphere to the satellite. A study of the dependence of the group travel time for the proton whislters. Further, from the expression for the group travel time including the effect of the ion temperature in conjunction with the generalized dispersion relation a relation for the cyclotron damping rate (both temporal and spatial) has been obtained. A detailed study if the cyclotron damping rate with travel time and ion temperature leads to the conclusion that the observed amplitude cutoff characteristics for the proton whistler can be explained on the basis of the mechanism of cyclotron damping. It is also shown that the knowledge of the group travel time of an electron-ion whistler can be used to estimate the ion temperature at the satellite