whistler, electromagnetic wave propagating through the atmosphere that occasionally is detected by a sensitive audio amplifier as a gliding high-to-low-frequency sound. Initially, whistlers last about half a second, and they may be repeated at regular intervals of several seconds, growing progressively longer and fainter with time. These electromagnetic waves originate during lightning discharges and are usually in the frequency range of 300 to 30,000 hertz.
Whistlers propagate through the ionosphere (the portion of the atmosphere where the number of ions is large enough to affect the propagation of radio waves; it begins at a height of about 50 km [30 miles] above the Earth’s surface). Traveling along ducts, or regions of enhanced ionization, they pass from one hemisphere to another along the Earth’s magnetic field until they are reflected at the corresponding geomagnetic latitude in the opposite hemisphere. The higher-frequency waves propagate faster. The whistle effect occurs because the reflected high-frequency waves arrive at the amplifier before the lower-pitched signals. Repeated reflections, dispersion, and absorption of the waves are responsible for the subsequent fainter and longer whistling tones.
Studies of whistler propagation have been used to determine electron density at altitudes as high as 19,000 to 26,000 km (12,000 to 16,000 miles), as well as daily, annual, and long-term variations of the electron density in the upper atmosphere.