Damping and spectral formation of upstream whistlers

Previous studies have indicated that damping rates of upstream whistlers strongly depend on the details of the electron distribution function. Moreover, detailed analysis of Doppler shift and the whistler dispersion relation indicate that upstream whistlers propagate obliquely in a finite band of frequencies. In this paper we present results of a kinetic calculation of damping lengths of wideband whistlers using the sum of seven drifting bi-Maxwellian electron distributions as a best fit to the ISEE 1 electron data. For two cases, when upstream whistlers are observed, convective damping lengths derived from ISEE magnetic field and ephemeris data are compared with theoretical results. We find that the calculated convective damping lengths are consistent with the data and that upstream whistlers remain marginally stable. We also show that the slope of plasma frame spectra of upstream whistlers, obtained by direct fitting of the observed spectra, is between 5 and 7. The overall spectral, wave, and particle characteristics, proximity to the shock, as well as propagation and damping properties indicated that these waves cannot be generated locally. Instead, the observed upstream whistlers arise in the shock ramp, most likely by a variety of cross-field drift and/or anisotropy driven instabilities. 57 refs., 11 figs