We conclude that this is due to the spatial structure of the resonator which can be examined only with local analysis techniques.

Abstract. Magnetospheric cusps are regions which are characterized by highly turbulent plasma. We have used Polar magnetic field data to study the structure of turbulence in the cusp region. The wavelet transform modulus maxima method (WTMM) has been applied to estimate the scaling exponent of the partition function and singularity spectra. Their features are similar to those found in the nonlinear multifractal systems. We have found that the scaling exponent does not allow one to conclude which intermittency model fits the experiment better. However, the singularity spectra reveal that different models can be ascribed to turbulence observed under various IMF conditions. For northward IMF conditions the turbulence is consistent with the multifractal p-model of fully developed fluid turbulence. For southward IMF experimental data agree with the model of non-fully developed Kolmogorov-like fluid turbulence.

We discuss mechanisms of the generation of ultralow frequency (ULF) upstream waves in the terrestrial foreshock that are essential for the acceleration of ions in space plasmas. The analysis is based on global hybrid kinetic simulations of the magnetosphere that provide realistic environment for the growth of the ULF waves in a quasi‐radial configuration of the interplanetary magnetic field. We focus on a long‐debated problem of the generation mechanism of oblique and parallel ULF waves and provide quantitative arguments in favor of the ion/ion cyclotron resonant instability. We also show that parallel propagating waves are predominantly generated in this configuration, but geometrical effects related to the phase space density in wave vector space lead to apparent predominance of obliquely propagating waves. Correspondence between the results outlined above and previously published experimental claims is thoroughly discussed and our results are shown to be consistent with spacecraft measurements.