Observations of the Relation of the Macroscopic Shape of the Plasmapause to the Micro-Scopic Generation of Escaping Non-Thermal Continuum Radiation

Case studies will be presented that relate observations of the plasmapause (by the IMAGE spacecraft's Extreme Ultraviolet Imager and the Radio Plasma Imager) with in-situ observations of escaping non-thermal continuum radiation ( by the IMAGE Radio Plasma Imager, the Geotail Plasma Wave Instrument and the Cluster Whisper instrument). Hashimoto et al. [JGR, 1997] showed that there is a high frequency extension of escaping continuum termed kilometric continuum that would have to be generated deep inside the nominal plasmapause location. Green et. al. [JGR, 2001] presented one case in which escaping continuum was associated with a plasmaspheric notch and suggested that kilometric continuum was generated whenever the plasmapause was pushed inwards from its nominal position. Green also suggested that the shape of the plasmapause strongly influences the longitudinal beaming pattern of this radiation. Since then multiple events have been identified in the IMAGE dataset. We will present observational evidence that sheds light on questions like; what conditions are necessary and or sufficient for the generation of escaping continuum? With IMAGE and Cluster we will characterize the conditions in and near the source region. With Cluster and Geotail we will characterize the spectrum of escaping continuum outside of the source region and try to relate what is observed outside with what is observed in or near the source region.