A sounder measures the density of plasmas in various parts of the solar sys
tem. The sounder emits wave pulses into the ambient plasma and listens to t
he response. Intensity peaks in the wave response are typically related to
two mechanisms. One is provided by waves that are reflected off plasma inho
mogeneities and propagate back to the emitting antenna, where they are then
detected. The second is provided by waves propagating with the same group
velocity as that of the receiving antenna. In the second case the waves sta
y close to the antenna and thus yield a long-lasting response. Response pea
ks to sounding at the upper hybrid (UH) frequency have, in most cases, been
related to reflected waves. In this work we examine if accompanying waves
can give rise to the UH response peak. We examine quantitatively how the pl
asma response to sounding at the UH frequency depends on the plasma density
, on the electron temperature, and on the emission amplitude. For the first
two parameters this is done by solving the linear dispersion relation. The
well-known property of the UH waves to change from having a zero group vel
ocity to propagating waves, depending on how the electron density compares
to the electron cyclotron frequency, is applied to Alouette sounder data. I
t is discussed how the change in the group velocity may affect the spectral
profile of the UH resonance. We present results from numerical particle in
cell (PIC) simulations which show that in the case of nonpropagating UH wa
ves, energy can be coupled into the plasma even though the vanishing group
velocity of the UH waves should not allow this. The PIC simulations and sou
nder data from the Alouette mission show that in the case of propagating UH
waves the response duration to sounding may be used to determine the elect
ron temperature. Emission amplitudes that are typical for plasma sounders a
re also shown to suppress the generation of certain electron cyclotron harm
onic waves.