Energetic neutral atom imaging at low (≤10 keV) energies from Astrid: observations and simulations

Intense (10⁶ cm⁻² sr⁻¹ s⁻¹) fluxes of upflowing ENAs from the polar cap have been observed in the energy range 0.1–13 keV (hydrogen assumed) from the Astrid satellite at 1000 km altitude. If a source altitude of 400 km is assumed, the ENA emissions come from an arc-like region at magnetic latitudes 70–85° extending from dusk over to the nightside. Simulated images show that the observed emissions may be the ENA-albedo effect of the auroral ion precipitation. It is also possible that the observed emissions may originate from upward accelerated ions with cone-like pitch-angle distributions charge exchanging with the upper atmosphere.     

INTERBALL-Auroral observations of 0.1–12 keV ion gaps in the diffuse auroral zone

We examine ion flux dropouts detected by INTERBALL-Auroral upon traversal of the auroral zone at altitudes of ≈13 000 up to 20 000 km. These dropouts which we refer to as “gaps”, are frequently observed irrespectively of longitudinal sector and appear characteristic of INTERBALL-Auroral ion spectrograms. Whereas some of these gaps display a nearly monoenergetic character (≈12 keV), others occur at energies of a few hundreds of eV up to several keV. INTERBALL-Auroral data exhibit the former monoenergetic gap variety essentially in the evening sector. As examined in previous studies, these gaps appear related to transition from particle orbits that are connected with the magnetotail plasma source to closed orbits encircling the Earth. The latter gap variety, which spreads over several hundreds of eV to a few keV is often observed in the dayside magnetosphere. It is argued that such gaps are due to magnetospheric residence times well above the ion lifetime. This interpretation is supported by numerical orbit calculations which reveal extremely large (up to several tens of hours) times of flight in a limited energy range as a result of conflicting E × B and gradient-curvature drifts. The characteristic energies obtained numerically depend upon both longitude and latitude and are quite consistent with those measured in-situ.     

First results from the hot plasma instrument PROMICS-3 on Interball-2

The PROMICS-3 instrument on Interball-2 is nominally identical to the PROMICS-3 instrument on Interball-1. It performs three-dimensional measurements of ions in the energy range 4 eV–70 keV with mass separation and of electrons in the energy range 300 eV–35 keV. Interball-2 was launched on August 29, 1996, into an orbit with the same inclination as that of Interball-1, 63°, but with apogee at 20 000 km. In this study the PROMICS-3 instrument on Interball-2 is briefly described and examples of the first results are presented. Firstly, we report observations of upward moving molecular ions with energies of up to 700 eV at the poleward edge of the auroral oval. Previous observations of outflowing molecular ions have been at lower altitudes and lower energies. Secondly, we show observations of dawnside magnetosheath plasma injections. Using conjugate data from both PROMICS-3 instruments we have found dispersion structures above the morningside auroral oval, which occurred simultaneously with isolated “pockets” of magnetosheath plasma at a distance of X_GSM = −14 to −12 R_E, which had been injected into the inner part of the low-latitude boundary layer. These isolated plasma structures were sites of strong field-aligned currents and are proposed to be the magnetospheric counterparts of the dispersion structures.     

Effect of magnetospheric convection on the energy distribution of protons from the Earth radiation belts

The structure of energetic protons from the Earth radiation belts, averaged for a magnetically quiet period, can be explained by the equilibrium between the radial diffusion transfer, loss due to Coulomb collisions, charge exchange with ambient neutral hydrogen of the geocorona, and drift of protons under the influence of magnetospheric convection. By transfer we mean diffusion owing to fluctuations related to substorms in the large-scale electric and magnetic fields. Equatorially mirroring protons with energies of 1–750 keV have been considered, and the theoretical predictions of the proton energy spectra for L = 1.0−6.6 have been compared with the observations on several satellites.     

Increase in the carbon dioxide infrared emissions during solar proton events

Increase in the nighttime high-latitude nonthermal emissions in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere in the 4.3 and 15 μm CO₂ bands during solar proton events has been estimated for the first time. The estimations have been performed for protons with energies not lower than 1 MeV precipitating into the atmosphere. A strong increase in the 4.3 μm emission can be anticipated during the above events; however, a substantial increase in the 15 μm emission is improbable. The 4.3 μm emission can increase only above approximately 80 km regardless of the energy of precipitating protons. The excitation of CO₂ vibrational states, transitions from which generate the 4.3 μm emission, is caused by the vibrational excitation of N₂ molecules due to collisions with secondary electrons, produced during solar proton events, and the following transfer of this excitation to CO₂(00⁰1) molecules during N₂-CO₂ collisions. Original Russian Text ? V.P. Ogibalov, S.N. Khvorostovskii, G.M. Shved, 2006, published in Geomagnetizm i Aeronomiya, 2006, Vol. 46, No. 2, pp. 159–167.     

Alfvén wave coupling in the auroral current circuit

Auroral phenomena are controlled by the geomagnetic field.Since the terrestrial field lines connect the auroral oval to the equatorial region at large distances, the collisionless plasma in this remote space environment can act as a power supply for the high-latitude upper atmosphere where auroral emissions take place. The coupling process is intimately linked to currents which flow across the local magnetic field direction both in the equatorial part and at the atmospheric end of the auroral field lines. These two auroral key regions are connected through currents flowing along the terrestrial field lines, thereby completing the auroral current circuit. Such field-aligned currents are carried by Alfvén waves, that is, magnetohydrodynamic shear waves, which are thus a means to exchange momentum and energybetween rather remote parts of the geomagnetically controlledspace environment. Auroral dynamics is further affected by a third key region in the auroral current circuit, namely the auroral acceleration region, where parallel electric fields accelerate particle to keV energies. This review focuses on key region coupling through Alfvén waves. Continuity requirements for currents and electric fields provide a convenient means to describe the interaction of Alfvén waves with different plasma regimes. Basic coupling aspects can be demonstrated with the help of a simplified model. Inhomogeneities and nonlinear feedback can lead to resonance effects and instabilities.     

Electron transport and energy degradation in the ionosphere: evaluation of the numerical solution,comparison with laboratory experiments and auroral observations

Auroral electron transport calculations are a critical part of auroral models. We evaluate a numerical solution to the transport and energy degradation problem. The numerical solution is verified by reproducing simplified problems to which analytic solutions exist, internal self-consistency tests, comparison with laboratory experiments of electron beams penetrating a collision chamber, and by comparison with auroral observations, particularly the emission ratio of the N₂ second positive to N⁺ ₂ first negative emissions. Our numerical solutions agree with range measurements in collision chambers. The calculated N₂2P to N⁺ ₂1N emission ratio is independent of the spectral characteristics of the incident electrons, and agrees with the value observed in aurora. Using different sets of energy loss cross sections and different functions to describe the energy distribution of secondary electrons that emerge from ionization collisions, we discuss the uncertainties of the solutions to the electron transport equation resulting from the uncertainties of these input parameters.     

Local particle traps in the high latitude magnetosphere and the acceleration of relativistic electrons

Variations of electron fluxes with energies 300–600 keV in the region of quasitrapping are analyzed using data of the low orbiting Coronas-F satellite. Enhancements in the electron fluxes with energies above 300 keV are observed at the polar boundary of the outer radiation belt. Meteor-3M satellite data, OVATION and AP models of the position of the auroral oval are used to determine the position of analyzed increases in the energetic electrons with respect to the position of the auroral oval. There is a significant number of events when these increases were observed at a few consequent orbits crossing the outer radiation belt boundary. Studied increases in relativistic electron fluxes are localized at the latitudes of the auroral oval. Different mechanisms of formation of observed enhancements are discussed. The possibility of the appearance of increases due to formation of local particle traps is analyzed using Tsyganenko geomagnetic field models. The role of the formation of local particle traps at the boundary of the outer radiation belt and its possible influence to the formation of the outer radiation belt is discussed.     

Simultaneous multispectral imaging of the discrete aurora

A unique multispectral imager and an associated multispectral analysis framework are described which together constitute a new diagnostic tool for auroral research. By acquiring spatial and spectral data simultaneously, multispectral imaging allows one to exploit physical connections between auroral morphology and the auroral optical spectrum in a way that sequential spectral imaging cannot. The initial research focus is on imaging the transition in the incident energy spectrum during the formation of discrete arcs—that is, when the precipitating population is characterized by <1 keV electrons. A technique is presented which uses two spectral bands (centered at 4278 and 7325 Å) to extend the effective dynamic range of passive imaging to much lower energies.     

Comparing the latitudinal distribution of the <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pc</Emphasis>1 intensity and the position of subauroral proton spots

The latitudinal position of subauroral proton spots (special proton auroras observed from the IMAGE satellite) has been compared with the Pc1 pulsation intensity distribution determined using the data from the Finnish meridional network of induction magnetometers. It has been indicated that a Pc1 intensity maximum is always observed at the station that is closer to the proton aurora projection. Two Pc1 bands were registered in the event when two proton auroral spots were simultaneously observed at different latitudes. In this case, the Pc1 intensity distribution maximum at lower frequencies was related to a proton auroral spot at a higher latitude and vice versa. Such a spatial correlation between Pc1 pulsations and proton auroral spots, together with the previously established time correlation between these phenomena, demonstrates that subauroral proton spots reflect the region of ion cyclotron instability in the equatorial magnetosphere at the level of the ionosphere.     

On the occurrence and characteristics of intense low-altitude electric fields observed by Freja

High-resolution measurements by the double probe electric field instrument on the Freja satellite are presented. The observations show that extremely intense (up to 1 V m⁻¹) and fine-structured (<1 km) electric fields exist at auroral latitudes within the altitude regime explored by Freja (up to 1700 km). The intense field events typically occur within the early morning sector of the auroral oval (01-07 MLT) during times of geomagnetic activity. In contrast to the observations within the auroral acceleration region characterized by intense converging electric fields associated with electron precipitation, upward ion beams and upward field-aligned currents, the intense electric fields observed by Freja are often found to be diverging and located within regions of downward field-aligned currents outside the electron aurora. Moreover, the intense fields are observed in conjunction with precipitating and transversely energized ions of energies 0.5-1 keV and may play an important role in the ion heating. The observations suggest that the intense electric field events are associated with small-scale low-conductivity ionospheric regions void of auroral emissions such as east-west aligned dark filaments or vortex streets of black auroral curls located between or adjacent to auroral arcs within the morningside diffuse auroral region. We suggest that these intense fields also exist at ionospheric altitudes although no such observations have yet been made. This is possible since the height-integrated conductivity associated with the dark filaments may be as low as 0.1 S or less. In addition, Freja electric field data collected outside the auroral region are discussed with particular emphasis on subauroral electric fields which are observed within the 19–01 MLT sector between the equatorward edge of the auroral oval and the inner edge of the ring current.     

Combined CUTLASS, EISCAT and ESR observations of ionospheric plasma flows at the onset of an isolated substorm

On August 21st 1998, a sharp southward turning of the IMF, following on from a 20 h period of northward directed magnetic field, resulted in an isolated substorm over northern Scandinavia and Svalbard. A combination of high time resolution and large spatial scale measurements from an array of coherent scatter and incoherent scatter ionospheric radars, ground magnetometers and the Polar UVI imager has allowed the electrodynamics of the impulsive substorm electrojet region during its first few minutes of evolution at the expansion phase onset to be studied in great detail. At the expansion phase onset the substorm onset region is characterised by a strong enhancement of the electron temperature and UV aurora. This poleward expanding auroral structure moves initially at 0.9 km s^-1 poleward, finally reaching a latitude of 72.5°. The optical signature expands rapidly westwards at ~6 km s^-1, whilst the eastward edge also expands eastward at ~0.6 km s^-1. Typical flows of 600 m s^-1 and conductances of 2 S were measured before the auroral activation, which rapidly changed to ~100 m s^-1 and 10–20 S respectively at activation. The initial flow response to the substorm expansion phase onset is a flow suppression, observed up to some 300 km poleward of the initial region of auroral luminosity, imposed over a time scale of less than 10 s. The high conductivity region of the electrojet acts as an obstacle to the flow, resulting in a region of low-electric field, but also low conductivity poleward of the high-conductivity region. Rapid flows are observed at the edge of the high-conductivity region, and subsequently the high flow region develops, flowing around the expanding auroral feature in a direction determined by the flow pattern prevailing before the substorm intensification. The enhanced electron temperatures associated with the substorm-disturbed region extended some 2° further poleward than the UV auroral signature associated with it.     

The discovery and the first studies of the auroral oval: A review

The auroral oval concept radically changed the view that existed for a century in geophysics on the patterns in aurora planetary spatial–temporal distributions. The auroral zone, which is located around the geomagnetic pole as a continuous ring at a constant angular distance of ~23°, was replaced by the auroral oval in 1960. The auroral oval spatial position reflects the shape of the Earth’s magnetosphere, which is compressed by the solar wind on the dayside and stretches into the magnetotail on the nightside. The oval is fixed relative to the direction toward the Sun and is located around the geomagnetic pole at altitudes of the upper atmosphere at an angular distance of ~12° at noon and ~23° at midnight. After an animated discussion over several subsequent years, the existence of the auroral oval was accepted by the scientific community as a paradigm of a new science, i.e., solar–terrestrial physics. The oval location indicates the zone where electron fluxes with energies varying from ~100 eV to ~20 keV precipitate into the upper atmosphere and is related to the structure of plasma domains in the Earth’s magnetosphere. The paper describes the scientific studies that resulted in the concept of the auroral oval existence. It has been shown how this concept was subsequently justified in the publications by Y.I. Feldstein and O.B. Khorosheva. The issue of the priority of the auroral oval concept introduction into geophysics has been considered. The statement that the concept of the oval is an archaic paradigm of solar–terrestrial physics has been called into question. Some scientific fields in which the term auroral oval or simply oval was and is the paradigm have been listed.     

Quantitative description of electron precipitation during auroral absorption events in the morning/noon local-time sector

Flux-energy spectra of precipitating electrons are derived from electron density profiles measured by the EISCAT radar during auroral absorption events in the morning/noon local-time sector. The inversion technique uses effective recombination coefficient profiles computed on the basis of a previously validated theoretical model of the lower ionosphere. It is shown that flux-energy spectra for the energy range 30–200 keV are in reasonable agreement with those derived for the same events using trapped flux-energy spectra from geosynchronous satellite data and a model for diffusion of trapped electrons into the loss cone by scattering on whistler waves. During individual events, strongly varying precipitating fluxes are found to be due primarily to varying pitch-angle diffusion.     

Position of the Energetic Electron Trapping Boundary Relative to Auroral Oval Boundaries during the Magnetic Storm on December 19–22, 2015, Based on Data from the Meteor-M2 Satellite

Geomagnetism and Aeronomy - This paper studies the position of the trapping boundary of electrons with energies of &gt;100 keV relative to the equatorial boundary of the auroral oval during a...     

Steep latitudinal gradients of thermospheric composition during magnetic storms: a possible formation mechanism

Mass spectrometer satellite observations show that a narrow region with steep latitudinal gradients of neutral composition is formed in the subauroral winter thermosphere during magnetic storms. In order to analyze the relative importance of individual terms in the continuity equation for atomic oxygen, a two-dimensional model was used to simulate the thermospheric disturbance formation in response to intense Joule heating imposed in the auroral oval. Such an approach allowed three characteristic zones to be distinguished in the high-latitude thermosphere at heights of about 250 km. It was shown that vertical transport is of greatest importance within the local heating region. Horizontal transport dominates at subauroral latitudes near the mid-night edge of the auroral oval. Propagation of the disturbances to middle latitudes is prohibited near the noon edge of the oval by a strong counteraction of a poleward meridional wind. Here is a “relaxation zone” defined as the region which is spread to the equator from the boundary between the local heating area and the subauroral zone in the noon sector LT. It is at this boundary that composition distributions with steep latitudinal gradient are formed within the first few hours of Joule heating source action. Perturbations transported to middle latitudes during the periods when the meridional wind is directed equatorward begin to relax in this zone with a characteristic time scale of about 7 h, independent of season. However, in winter, composition at subauroral latitudes recovers to unperturbed N₂/O values before the wind again turns equatorward, giving rise to a distribution with steep latitudinal gradient recovering. In summer, a complete relaxation cannot be reached due to a shorter time interval with poleward wind and a larger disturbance amplitude. These two factors result in an effective smoothing of the initial steep gradient and a more regular latitudinal distribution of composition is observed in the summer thermosphere.     

On the variability of I(7620 Å)/I(5577 Å) in low altitude aurora

An auroral electron excitation model, combined with simple equilibrium neutral and ion chemistry models, is used to investigate the optical emission processes and height profiles of I(5577 Å) and I(7620 Å) in the 90 to 100 km altitude region. It is shown that the apparent discrepancies between ground-based and rocket-borne auroral observations of the I(7620 Å)/I(5577 Å) ratio are due to the extreme height variation of this intensity ratio in the 90 to 100 km region.     

Determination of the lifetime of molecules O 2 + and estimation of the flux of penetrating electrons generating a cloud of excess concentration of O 2 + in the ionosphere at altitudes above 220 km

The occurrence of anomalous (nonthermal) profiles of green emission of oxygen atoms detected with a Fabry-Perot spectrometer in auroras with the effect of a rapid decrease in the intensity of the wings of their dissociative component has been investigated. Based on an analysis of these measured profiles, it has been found that the characteristic time of recombination of a molecular oxygen ion at altitudes of 200–400 km is about 5–7 s. It appears that these molecular ions occur in a horizontally limited region of the auroral ionosphere as a result of ionization by a space localized flux of soft electrons with energies of 0.2–0.4 keV penetrating up to altitudes of 200 km. The estimation of the electron flux produces a value of 10¹⁰–10¹³ electrons cm^?2 s^?1. They generate the excess concentration n(O ₂ ⁺ ) ~ 5.6 × 10⁵ cm^?3.     

Thermal ion measurements on board Interball Auroral Probe by the Hyperboloid experiment

Hyperboloid is a multi-directional mass spectrometer measuring ion distribution functions in the auroral and polar magnetosphere of the Earth in the thermal and suprathermal energy range. The instrument encompasses two analyzers containing a total of 26 entrance windows, and viewing in two almost mutually perpendicular half-planes. The nominal angular resolution is defined by the field of view of individual windows 13° × 12.5°. Energy analysis is performed using spherical electrostatic analyzers providing differential measurements between 1 and 80 eV. An ion beam emitter (RON experiment) and/or a potential bias applied to Hyperboloid entrance surface are used to counteract adverse effects of spacecraft potential and thus enable ion measurements down to very low energies. A magnetic analyzer focuses ions on one of four micro-channel plate (MCP) detectors, depending on their mass/charge ratio. Normal modes of operation enable to measure H⁺, He⁺, O⁺⁺, and O⁺ simultaneously. An automatic MCP gain control software is used to adapt the instrument to the great flux dynamics encountered between spacecraft perigee (700 km) and apogee (20 000 km). Distribution functions in the main analyzer half-plane are obtained after a complete scan of windows and energies with temporal resolution between one and a few seconds. Three-dimensional (3D) distributions are measured in one spacecraft spin period (120 s). The secondary analyzer has a much smaller geometrical factor, but offers partial access to the 3D dependence of the distributions with a few seconds temporal resolution. Preliminary results are presented. Simultaneous, local heating of both H⁺ and O⁺ ions resulting in conical distributions below 80 eV is observed up to 3 Earths radii altitudes. The thermal ion signatures associated with large-scale nightside magnetospheric boundaries are investigated and a new ion outflow feature is identified associated to the polar edge of the auroral oval. Detailed distribution functions of injected magnetosheath ions and ouflowing cleft fountain ions are measured down to a few eVs in the dayside.     

Application of stochastic inversion in auroral tomography

A software package originally developed for satellite radio tomography is briefly introduced and its use in two-dimensional auroral tomography is described. The method is based on stochastic inversion, i.e. finding the most probable values of the unknown volume emission rates once the optical measurements are made using either a scanning photometer or an auroral camera. A set of simulation results is shown for a different number and separations of optical instruments at ground level. It is observed that arcs with a thickness of a few kilometers and separated by a few tens of kilometers are easily reconstructed. The maximum values of the inversion results, however, are often weaker than in the model. The most obvious reason for this is the grid size, which cannot be much smaller than the arc thickness. The grid necessarily generates a spatial averaging effect broadening the arc crosssections and reducing the peak values. Finally, results from TV-camera observations at Tromsø and Esrange are shown. Although these sites are separated by more than 200 km, arcs close to Tromsø have been successfully reconstructed.