Routine whistler analysis by means of accurate curve fitting

A technique based on least squares curve fitting is proposed for the routine analysis of whistlers with unknown nose frequency and causative atmospheric. The technique is based on the least squares estimation of the zero-frequency dispersion and the equatorial electron gyrofrequency in Bernard's (1973) approximation for the dispersion and of a third parameter locating the causative atmospheric. The proposed technique permits accurate estimation of errors and has certain advantages over earlier methods. Analysis of travel time residuals proves to be helpful in studying measurement errors with further improvement of approximations.