Observations of the Auroral Kilometric Radiation onboard the Interball-1 satellite in 1995–1997

Results of two-year (August 1995–July 1997) continuous observations of the auroral kilometric radiation (AKR) in the AKR-X experiment on board the high-apogee Interball-1 satellite are presented. Observations were carried out in the minimum of solar activity in a frequency range of 100–1500 kHz. The most effective detections of AKR occurred near the maximum of its spectrum at a frequency of 252 kHz and also at a frequency of 500 kHz. The data obtained made it possible to study in more detail the character of AKR global directivity, its frequency dependence, and some other parameters of the emission. These data are interpreted qualitatively in the context of the emission mechanism caused by cyclotron maser instability.