Interhemispheric survey of polar cap aurora

Reidy, Jade A. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7939-991X; Fear, R.C.; Whiter, D.K.; Lanchester, B.; Kavanagh, Andrew J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7360-7039; Milan, S.E.; Carter, J.A.; Paxton, L.J.; Zhang, Y.. 2018 Interhemispheric survey of polar cap aurora. Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 123 (9). 7283-7306. 10.1029/2017JA025153

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Text ©2018. The Authors. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. Reidy_et_al-2018-Journal_of_Geophysical_Research__Space_Physics.pdf - Published Version Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0. Download (17MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

This study investigates the interhemispheric nature of polar cap auroras via ultraviolet imaging, combined with particle data, to determine whether they occur on open or closed field lines. Data from the SSUSI (Special Sensor Ultraviolet Spectrographic Imager) instrument on board the DMSP (Defence Meteorological Satellite Program) spacecraft are examined. The DMSP spacecraft are in 90-min orbits; hence, images of each hemisphere are separated by 45min providing a good opportunity for interhemispheric study. 21 polar cap arc (PCA) events are recorded in December 2015 which have particle data from the SSJ/4 particle spectrometer associated with an arc in at least one hemisphere. Nine events are found to contain "arcs" consistent with a closed field line mechanism, that is, arcs associated with an ion signature present in both hemispheres. Six events contained arcs that were consistent with an "open field line" mechanism, that is, they were associated with electron-only precipitation. Events containing arcs that were not consistent with either of these expectations are also explored, including an example of a "non-conjugate" theta aurora and an interesting example of auroral morphology similar to a PCA which is associated with a geomagnetic storm. Seasonal effects are also investigated through a statistical analysis of PCAs over 4 months in 2015. It is found that PCAs are visible in the SSUSI data at least 20% of the time and that it is likely some are missed due to the spacecraft field of view and poor sensitivity in the summer hemisphere due to increased solar illumination.

Item Type:	Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI):	10.1029/2017JA025153
ISSN:	21699380
Date made live:	20 Nov 2018 14:29 +0 (UTC)
URI:	https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/521641

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