基于星点的全天空极光图像参数标定及其验证

全天空极光成像仪是地基极光观测研究的重要仪器设备,从其拍摄的全天空图像数据中能获得极光形态、尺度、激发强度等重要物理参数,因而精确标定全天空图像,对准确获取极光相关物理参数极为重要.本文提出了一种基于星点位置信息对全天空图像进行标定的方法,通过该方法可以确定全天空图像参数(天顶在全天空图像中的像素点位置,地理方位以及视野范围内成像半径与天顶角的关系).利用电离层卫星探测到的极光沉降电子能谱中的"倒V"结构与极光弧之间的对应关系,对星点标定方法获取的全天空图像参数进行了验证.结果显示卫星穿越的"倒V"结构宽度(60±6km、102±6km)与同时全天空极光成像仪观测到的卫星穿越的极光弧宽度(64.7±7km、111.6±7km)几乎一致,这表明本文提出的全天空极光图像参数的星点标定方法是有效和准确的.     

一种基于形态特征的极光自动分类方法

极光是磁层与电离层-热层复杂相互作用的直观表现,对极光进行合理分类有助于了解极光发生机制及其与磁层边界层动力学过程之间的相互关系.面对逐年增长的海量极光数据,亟需自动的极光分类方法.本文基于韦伯局部描述符(WLD)提出了一种极光图像描述方法,该方法能表征全天空极光图像的纹理、形状和亮度等形态特征.基于该方法,对2003~2009年北极黄河站越冬观测的4种日侧极光类型进行自动分类.在2003年8001幅典型极光图像上,与人工标记对比分类准确率高达94.8%,高于其他同类方法;对2004~2009年越冬观测数据进行自动识别,获得4种极光类型的发生分布与日侧极光的多波段能量分布一致.实验结果表明本文方法能有效用于极光图像表征,为海量极光图像自动分类提供了一种新方法.     

基于机器学习的极光图像自动分割方法

极光是太阳风能量注入到极区的指示器,从观测视野中准确分割出极光区域对研究极光演变如亚暴过程有非常重要的意义.本文基于全卷积神经网络提出了一种弱监督极光图像自动分割策略,数据标记时仅需指定极光区域的一个像素点即可,极大解决了机器学习人工标注数据的压力.首先利用简单单弧状极光图像训练一个初始分割模型Model 1,然后基于该模型,结合热点状和复杂多弧状极光图像获得一个增强的分割模型Model 2,最后对分割结果做进一步优化.本文对2003—2007年北极黄河站越冬观测的2715幅极光图像进行了分割,并和最新论文结果及人工标签进行了定量和定性比较,其中分割结果与人工标签的“交并比”高达60%,证明了本文方法的有效性.     

基于全天空图像的极光活动变化检测方法研究

面对日积月累产生的海量极光数据,快速发现极光现象的发生及活动特征是研究极光的物理机制及相关动力学过程的首要问题,它为研究极光现象提供有效的自动化分析手段,从而能够提供充足而有效的事件用于统计学分析.因为太阳风是等离子体,它有着磁流体力学的特征,本文采用流体力学的连续性方程对极光运动进行建模,提取全天空极光图像序列的运动场,对极光活动进行表征,进而构造极光活动变化曲线,从而有效的检测出极光活动的变化.该方法的优势在于,基于运动场的表征方法能够有效反映极光活动的二维形态和运动特征,生成的极光活动变化曲线可以准确地指示极光发生、变化和消失的时间,为进一步研究极光的活动周期及相关物理变化奠定基础.     

一种新的基于日侧全天空图像的极光弧宽测定方法

极光弧是最常见的一种极光形态,其空间尺度大至数百千米,小至几十米.极光弧宽的研究对理解极光粒子加速机制及磁层-电离层中的跨尺度耦合具有重要意义.现有文献在计算极光弧图像中的弧宽时,多是只考虑了过天顶某条剖线上极光强度的变化,而忽略了极光弧的形态信息.文章从极光弧图像出发,利用计算机模式识别技术,自动识别出极光弧轮廓,在此基础上计算极光弧的宽度,统计弧宽分布规律.通过对2 0 0 3~2 0 0 5年北极黄河站越冬观测的2 5 2 0幅日侧全天空极光弧图像进行实验,并与Q i u等(2 0 1 3)结论进行对比,验证了文章方法的有效性.结果显示,黄河站全天空成像仪观测到的日侧极光弧空间尺度主要在1~1 0 0 k m量级,磁天顶附近±1 5°内极光弧宽的平均值为1 9.6 5 k m,并且随着天顶角远离磁天顶,极光弧宽增大.     

亚暴期间高纬黄昏-子夜扇区极光弧增亮与衰减及其与IMF的关系

利用南极中山站极光全天空摄相、地磁、地磁脉动数据和Wind卫星的行星际磁场IMF观测数据，分析了7个亚暴期间高纬黄昏-子夜扇区极光弧的短暂增亮现象.极光弧特征是，短暂增亮随后很快衰减，历时10-20min，基本沿着日-地方向，有明显黄昏方向运动.这些事件大都发生在IMFB_z南转之后，亚暴增长相或膨胀相期间，极光浪涌到达之前10-73min消失.相应的IMFB_x＞0，IMFB_y＜0.这种极光弧和亚暴极光不同，它们与地磁活动及Pi2脉动不相关.这7个极光弧的形态和IMF特征表明，极光弧的增亮很可能由尾瓣重联产生，很快衰减归因于IMFB_z南向条件，而黄昏方向运动受IMFB_y控制.     

南极中山站夜间极光特点

１９９７年在南极中山站（６６°２２′２４″Ｓ,７６°２２′４０″Ｅ）越冬考察期间,作者对夜间极光的观察及对全天空极光照相资料的收集,得出了多数极光在中山站出现的时间、位置及其主要形状,同时也揭示了出现极光伴随着地磁场的扰动特点,这对极区电离层、磁层耦合及极光动力学的研究提供了重要资料．     

地基观测的夜侧极光对行星际激波的响应

行星际激波与地球磁层相互作用通常会导致日侧极光活动增强,随后沿着极光卵的晨昏两侧向夜侧扩展的激波极光.行星际激波也可能直接导致夜侧扇区极光活动增强,甚至沉降粒子能通量的数量级可以与典型亚暴相比拟.本文首次利用我国南极中山站和北极黄河站连续多年积累的极光观测数据,对行星际激波与地球磁层相互作用期间地面台站在夜侧扇区(18—06MLT)观测的极光响应进行了分析.对18个极光观测事件的分析结果表明:行星际激波与磁层相互作用可以在夜侧触发极光爆发和极光微弱增强或静态无变化事件;太阳风-磁层能量耦合的效率以及磁层空间的稳定性决定着行星际激波能否触发极光爆发.     

一种基于紫外极光图像的亚暴膨胀期起始时刻的自动检测方法

准确界定亚暴起始时刻是理解亚暴相关问题的关键.已有研究主要集中在两方面:一是从极光图像中人工挑选亚暴事件进行案例分析或统计分析来研究亚暴发生机制及亚暴期间的地磁环境;二是基于一些空间物理参数,如AE指数、SME(SuperMAG electrojet)指数、Pi2、正弯扰等,采用人眼判断或是模式识别的方法从中找出亚暴起始时刻.本文尝试采用模式识别的方法从紫外极光图像中自动地检测出亚暴膨胀期起始时刻.首先,将紫外极光图像通过网格化处理转换到磁地方时-地磁纬度(MLT-MLAT)直角坐标下,然后通过模糊c均值聚类方法提取亮斑,再考察亮斑强度是否增强、面积是否极向膨胀来判断是不是亚暴事件.本文方法在1996年12月-1997年2月这三个月的Polar卫星紫外极光图像上进行了实验验证.我们将检测到的亚暴起始时刻与Liou(J. Geophys. Res., 2010, 115: A12219)的人工标记进行了对比,并详细分析了与标记不一致的多检和漏检事件.本文提出的自动检测方法可以快速地从海量紫外极光图像中完成亚暴事件的初步筛选,方便研究人员进一步深入研究极光亚暴.     

日侧极光弧的发光强度与沉降电子能谱的相关关系

本文利用中国北极黄河站多波段全天空极光观测数据,选取稳定的日侧极光弧,统计研究了极光强度比I_(557.7)/I_(630.0)与极光发光强度I_(557.7)的相关关系.发现I_(557.7)在午前暖点和午后热点区附近出现极大值,分别为2.2kR和2.9 kR;而I_(630.0)在磁正午出现极大值,为1.5kR.当I_(557.7)从0.1kR增加到10kR时,极光强度比I_(557.7)/I_(630.0)也由0.2增加到9.结合DMSP卫星探测的沉降粒子能谱数据,找到17个DMSP卫星穿越黄河站上空极光弧的事件,共穿越40条极光弧.得到了沉降电子的平均能量正比于极光强度比I_(557.7)/I_(630.0),沉降电子的总能通量正相关于极光强度I_(557.7)的关系式.利用该关系式反演所有极光弧的电子能谱,发现在午前和午后扇区,产生极光弧的沉降电子主要来源于等离子体片边界层;在高纬出现强度较弱的弧,对应等离子体幔区域.在磁正午附近,沉降电子的平均能量较低,极光弧处于低纬一侧,粒子源区主要是低纬边界层.     

Hardness variation rate of precipitating electrons during <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pi</Emphasis>3 auroral pulsations

Photometric measurements of pulsating auroras have been carried out in the Pi3 range of geomagnetic pulsations with periods of 2–10 min with the use of auroral all-sky camera films obtained at the Lovozero Observatory. The new all-sky camera developed at the Polar Geophysical Institute uses the CCD matrix. This makes it possible to obtain simultaneous images in red, green, and blue spectral ranges and thus to investigate temporal luminosity variations in these spectral regions. The hardness of penetrating auroral electrons with a time resolution of a few seconds is qualitatively estimated. It is found that the energy of the electrons that cause auroras in the Pi3 pulsation range is not constant over the pulsation period. It is maximal at the lowest luminosity and minimal at its peaks. Luminosity pulsations are compared with geomagnetic pulsations, and it is established that large differences between luminosity variations in different parts of the sky explain the incomplete correspondence between the records of auroral and geomagnetic pulsations.     

A plasma bulk motion in the midnight magnetosphere during auroral breakup inferred from all-sky image and magnetic field observations at geosynchronous altitudes

Auroral events that occurred on January 24, 1986 in central Canada were recorded by an all-sky TV imager. During these events, auroral breakup was confined to a region between two foot points of neighboring geosynchronous satellites, GOES5 and GOES6. We examined field line signatures at satellite locations in unique station distributions and concluded that field line observation indicated plasma motion in the equatorial plane. The plasma motion showed an earthward compression combined with bifurcation (duskward or dawnward displacement in dusk/dawn sectors). In addition, we were able to infer an elliptical circulation of plasmas in the equatorial plane at Pi2 periods. Appearance in opposite rotation beside the auroral region indicated excitation of surface waves. We were able to show that auroral breakups occurred at a meridian of bifurcation. We suggest that a high plasma pressure region occurring tailward of geosynchronous altitudes may drive those plasma motions.     

Particle-precipitation fine structure during the development of substorms at high latitudes

The energy of precipitating particles that cause auroras can be characterized by the ratio of different atom and molecule emissions in the upper atmospheric layers. It is known that the spectrum of precipitating electrons becomes harder when substorms develop. The ratio of the I ₆₃₀₀ red line to the I ₅₅₇₇ green line was used to determine the precipitating-electron spectrum hardness. The I ₆₃₀₀/I ₅₅₇₇ parameter was used to roughly estimate the electron energy in auroral arcs observed in different zones of the auroral bulge at the bulge poleward edge and within this bulge. The variations in the emission red and green lines in auroral arcs during substorms that occurred in the winter season 2007–2008 and in January 2006 were analyzed based on the zenith photometer and all-sky camera data at the Barentsburg and Longyearbyen (LYR) high-latitude observatories. It has been indicated that the average value of the I ₆₃₀₀/I ₅₅₇₇ emission ratio for arcs within the auroral bulge is larger than this value at the bulge poleward edge. This means that the highest-energy electron precipitation is observed in arcs at the poleward edge of the substorm auroral bulge.     

Spatial distribution of conductances and currents associated with a north-south auroral form during a multiple-substorm period

Using the method of characteristics to invert ground-based data of the ground magnetic field disturbance and of the ionospheric electric field, we obtain spatial distributions of ionospheric conductances, currents, and field-aligned currents (FACs) associated with a north-south auroral form that drifts westwards over northern Scandinavia around 2200 UT on December 2, 1977. This auroral form is one in a sequence of such north-south structures observed by all-sky cameras, and appears 14 min after the last of several breakups during that extremely disturbed night. Our analysis shows that the ionospheric Hall conductance reaches values above 200 S in the center of the form, and upward flowing FACs of up to 25 μA/m² are concentrated near its westward and equatorward edge. The strong upward flowing FACs are fed by an area of more distributed, but still very strong downward-flowing FACs northeastward of the auroral form. In contrast to the conductances, the electric field is only slightly affected by the passage of the form. We point out similarities and differences of our observations and results to previously reported observations and models of ‘auroral fingers’, ‘north-south aurora’, and ‘auroral streamers’ which are suggested to be ionospheric manifestations of bursty bulk flows in the plasma sheet.     

A slow mode wave as a possible source of Pi 2 and associated particle precipitation: a case study

An intensification of auroral luminosity referred to as an auroral break-up often accompanies the onset of geomagnetic pulsation (Pi 2) at the dip-equator. One such auroral break-up occurred at 2239 UT on 16 June, 1986, being accompanied by weak substorm activity (AE≈50 nT) which was recorded in all-sky image of Syowa Station, Antarctica (66.2°S, 71.8°E in geomagnetic coordinates). The associated Pi 2 magnetic pulsation was detected by a fluxgate magnetometer in the afternoon sector at the dip-equator (Huancayo, Peru; 1.44°N, 355.9° in geomagnetic coordinates; 12.1°S, 75.2°W in geographic coordinates; L = 1.00). In spite of the large separation of the two stations in longitude and latitude, the auroral break-up and subsequent luminosity modulation were seen to be correlated with the wave form of the ground Pi 2 pulsation. This occurred in such a way that the luminosity maximum was seen to occur at the phase of maximum amplitudes of Pi 2 wave form. We argue that the observed correlation could be interpreted as indicating a Pi 2-modulation of a field-aligned acceleration of the low energy electrons that may occur near the equator of the midnight magnetosphere.     

The 4-emission-core structure of dayside aurora oval observed by all-sky imager at 557.7 nm in Ny-Ålesund,Svalbard

A survey of dayside aurora excitation at 557.7 nm, which was acquired from an all-sky imager at Yellow River Station in Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard, shows that there are 4 intense emission maxima in the dayside oval, centered near 0630/76, 0830/76, 1400/75, and 1600/75 (unit: MLT/MLAT), respectively. Tracing the magnetospheric sources of these cores along geomagnetic field lines, the 0830- and 1400-MLT cores correspond with the prenoon and postnoon magnetospheric boundary layers (MBLs), and the 0630- and 1600-MLT cores are located at the dusk and dawn MBLs, respectively. The potential solar wind-magnetosphere dynamic processes resulting in these auroral features are discussed.     

Spatial texture based automatic classification of dayside aurora in all-sky images

A spatial texture based representation method including features of intensity, shape and texture, was utilized to characterize all-sky auroral images. The combination of the local binary pattern (LBP) operator and a delicately designed block partition scheme achieved both global shapes and local textures capabilities. The representation method was used in automatic recognition of four primary categories of discrete dayside aurora using observations between years 2003–2009 at the Yellow River Station, Ny-Ålesund, Svalbard. The supervised classification results on labeled data in 2003 were in accordance with the labeling by scientists considering both spectral and morphological information. The occurrence distributions of the four categories were obtained through automatic classification of data between 2004–2009, which confirm the multiple-wavelength intensity distribution of dayside aurora, and further provide morphological interpretation of auroral types.