Velocity of auroral arcs drifting equatorward from the polar cap

The drift velocity of an auroral arc is compared with the component of F-region plasma velocity in the same direction for ten cases where the arc is seen to move steadily equatorward for several minutes without any major change in appearance or orientation. In most cases the two velocities are close, but on two occasions the drift velocity of the arc is much higher than the plasma velocity. From the cases studied it appears that during the growth and recovery phase of the substorm cycle the arc moves with a velocity close to the convection velocity, but during the expansion phase this is not the case.     

Seasonal and solar cycle variations of the auroral electrojet indices

Using hourly mean auroral electrojet indices for the past 20 years, we examine the seasonal and solar cycle variations of the AU and AL indices as well as the smaller time-scale fluctuations in these indices. The AU and AL indices maximize during summer and equinoctial months, respectively. By removing the effects of the solar conductance from the AU index, it is found that the electric field contribution to the AU index exhibits the same semiannual variation pattern as the AL index, indicating that the semiannual magnetic variations are controlled by the electric field. Since the auroral electrojets are mostly Hall currents flowing in the east–west direction, the fluctuations of the auroral electrojet indices can be interpreted in terms of fluctuations in the north–south component of the electric field and the Hall conductance. The AU fluctuation is largely due to that of the electric field, while the AL fluctuation is attributed to both the electric field and Hall conductance with their contributions being comparable. The high fluctuation of AL compared to that of AU is attributed to particle precipitation associated with substorm activity. However, the fluctuations of the electric field and conductance do not show any noticeable seasonal dependence. The variation pattern of the yearly mean AL index follows the mirror image of the AU index during the past 20 years, indicating that the absolute values of the two indices are proportional to each other. This suggests again that the electric field is the main modulator of magnetic disturbance. On the other hand, they show a tendency to become higher during the declining phase of the solar cycle. This is the same variation pattern confirmed from the aa index. However, the fluctuations of the electric field and the Hall conductance do not show any apparent dependence on the solar cycle.     

Extended period of polar cap auroral display: auroral dynamics and relation to the IMF and the ionospheric convection

An unusually extended period (5 h) of polar cap auroral display on 3 August 1986 is examined. Auroras have been investigated using ground-based data as well as measurements from the IMP-8 spacecraft in interplanetary space and simultaneous observations from the polar-orbiting satellites Viking and DE-1 in the northern and southern hemispheres, respectively. It is found that visible Sun-aligned arcs are located inside the transpolar band of the -aurora observed from the satellite in ultraviolet wavelengths. The transpolar band can contain several Sun-aligned arcs that move inside the band toward the morning or evening side of the auroral oval independent of the direction of the band movement. Intensifications of polar cap auroras with durations of up to about 30 min are observed. No change has been found in either IMF parameters or substorm activity that can be related to these intensifications. The -aurora occurred during a 2-h period when the B _z-component of the IMF was negative. A tendency is noted for dawnward (duskward) displacement of the transpolar band when B_y>0 (B_y<0) in the southern hemisphere. Simultaneous observations of auroral ovals during interplanetary B_z<0, B_y<0 and B_x>0 in both hemispheres and convection patterns for B_z<0 and B_y<0 have been displayed using satellite and ground-based measurements. It was found that the transpolar band of the -aurora in the sunlit hemisphere was situated in the region of large-scale downward Birkeland currents.     

极光电激流的地方时和季节变化特性研究: CHAMP卫星观测

极光电激流是极区电流系的重要组成部分.本文利用CHAMP卫星10年的高精度标量磁场数据研究了极光电激流的地方时和季节变化特征,并对卫星与地面台站观测到的极光电激流进行了对比分析.结果表明,日侧极光电激流主要受太阳辐射的影响,而夜侧极光电激流主要受亚暴的影响.极光电激流具有明显的年、半年变化特征.夏季东向电激流和日侧西向电激流强于冬季,而夜间西向电激流冬季强于夏季.东向电激流和日侧的西向电激流在两至点增强,夜侧的西向电激流则在两分点增强.西向电激流与AL、SML指数有较好的相关性,东向电激流与SMU指数有较好的相关性,而与AU指数有一定差异,这与地磁台站的有效探测范围有关.

     

Seasonal changes in daily variations of ELF-VLF atmospherics detected at auroral latitudes

Daily variations in the intensities of atmospherics at 600 Hz and 6 kHz detected at the Lovozero observatory from June to December 2012 were studied. Under quiet geomagnetic conditions, daily variations of atmospherics are shown to be determined by both the waveguide parameters of the Earth’s ionosphere and the activity of storm centers. In summer, a broad daytime maximum of atmospherics flow N _hr (the number of atmospherics per hour) is detected most likely due to the lightning activity in mid-latitude regions that are nearer to the observatory than the global storm centers. The daily variations in atmospherics mean amplitudes per hour A _hr differ appreciably from the daily variations N _hr, reflecting largely the changes in lighting conditions along signal propagation paths. The distribution function of the levels of atmospherics can be approximated by the following formula taken from publications: P(X) = [1 + (X/X ₅₀) ^k ]^?1, where k is a parameter that changes from 2.2 to 3.2 at f = 600 Hz and from 1.5 to 2 at f = 6 kHz under quiet geomagnetic conditions.     

Combined ESR and EISCAT observations of the dayside polar cap and auroral oval during the May 15, 1997 storm

The high-latitude ionospheric response to a major magnetic storm on May 15, 1997 is studied and different responses in the polar cap and the auroral oval are highlighted. Depletion of the F₂ region electron density occurred in both the polar cap and the auroral zone, but due to different physical processes. The increased recombination rate of O⁺ ions caused by a strong electric field played a crucial role in the auroral zone. The transport effect, however, especially the strong upward ion flow was also of great importance in the dayside polar cap. During the main phase and the beginning of the recovery phase soft particle precipitation in the polar cap showed a clear relation to the dynamic pressure of the solar wind, with a maximum cross-correlation coefficient of 0.63 at a time lag of 5 min.     

Control of the spatial dynamics of the polar cap and auroral oval based on data from the Greenland network of magnetic stations

The technique for determining the spatial location of the polar cap, auroral oval, and subauroral zone of the high-latitude space, based on the geomagnetic data from the Greenland chain of magnetic stations, is proposed. The belonging of a specific station to one of the zones is determined based on the results of operation of a self-learning classification artificial neural network of a Kohonen-layer type. The amplitude-frequency spectra and the matrices of wavelet coefficients for analyzing data from the magnetic observation network are the input calculation parameters.     

A large vertical wind in the thermosphere at the auroral oval/polar cap boundary seen simultaneously from Mawson and Davis,Antarctica

Ground-based Fabry–Perot spectrometer observations from the Australian Antarctic stations of Davis and Mawson show an upward wind ≥100 m s⁻¹ in the thermosphere at ∼240 km altitude on the night of Day of Year 159 in 1997. The wind was from a region located poleward of the poleward edge of the discrete auroral oval, and is identified as a further event of the type seen at Mawson, and elsewhere, in earlier work. The upward wind was first seen over Davis station at ∼22:00 UT. As the auroral oval moved northward the region of upward wind followed, and was seen at Mawson (some 4° magnetically north of Davis) just over 1 h later. It is shown that the presence of the large upward wind does, at times, affect the horizontal wind inferred from the off-zenith observations. Correcting the affected measurements for the non-zero upward wind leads to a horizontal wind field more consistent with that derived from observations before and after the vertical wind event. A lower limit of the area of the region of upward wind over Mawson and Davis on this night is estimated as ∼6×10¹¹ m². The estimated power required to drive the upward wind over this area at 240 km altitude is of order 6×10⁹ W. We estimate that this represents between 3 and 7% of the geomagnetic power input in the southern hemisphere during this interval.     

Position of proton precipitation during auroral intensifications

The unique spectrographic observations of auroras on the Kola Peninsula, simultaneously performed in 1970 at Loparskaya and Kem stations using C-180-S cameras, have been analyzed by up-to-date digital data processing. The position and dynamics of proton precipitation relative to other manifestations of auroral and substorm activity (auroral arcs and electrojets) under moderately and weakly disturbed conditions have been analyzed. Several previously known regularities in the morphology of proton auroras have been confirmed. It has been indicated that the direction of motion of the proton band equatorward boundary in the evening sector changes at a sign reversal of the IMF Z component. Weak breakups affect the poleward boundary of the proton band but do not influence the position of the equatorward boundary of this band, which results in the expansion of the proton emission region. When a disturbance is stronger, the proton emission disappears near an active electron arc and subsequently appears poleward of its position before intensification. Short-term proton precipitation is also observed in the region of active electron precipitation during an intense breakup in the form of N–S structures.     

Seasonal effects in the ionosphere-thermosphere response to the precipitation and field-aligned current variations in the cusp region

The seasonal effects in the thermosphere and ionosphere responses to the precipitating electron flux and field-aligned current variations, of the order of an hour in duration, in the summer and winter cusp regions have been investigated using the global numerical model of the Earths upper atmosphere. Two variants of the calculations have been performed both for the IMF B_y < 0. In the first variant, the model input data for the summer and winter precipitating fluxes and field-aligned currents have been taken as geomagnetically symmetric and equal to those used earlier in the calculations for the equinoctial conditions. It has been found that both ionospheric and thermospheric disturbances are more intensive in the winter cusp region due to the lower conductivity of the winter polar cap ionosphere and correspondingly larger electric field variations leading to the larger Joule heating effects in the ion and neutral gas temperature, ion drag effects in the thermospheric winds and ion drift effects in the F2-region electron concentration. In the second variant, the calculations have been performed for the events of 28–29 January, 1992 when precipitations were weaker but the magnetospheric convection was stronger than in the first variant. Geomagnetically asymmetric input data for the summer and winter precipitating fluxes and field-aligned currents have been taken from the patterns derived by combining data obtained from the satellite, radar and ground magnetometer observations for these events. Calculated patterns of the ionospheric convection and thermospheric circulation have been compared with observations and it has been established that calculated patterns of the ionospheric convection for both winter and summer hemispheres are in a good agreement with the observations. Calculated patterns of the thermospheric circulation are in a good agreement with the average circulation for the Southern (summer) Hemisphere obtained from DE-2 data for IMF B_y < 0 but for the Northern (winter) Hemisphere there is a disagreement at high latitudes in the afternoon sector of the cusp region. At the same time, the model results for this sector agree with other DE-2 data and with the ground-based FPI data. All ionospheric and thermospheric disturbances in the second variant of the calculations are more intensive in the winter cusp region in comparison with the summer one and this seasonal difference is larger than in the first variant of the calculations, especially in the electron density and all temperature variations. The means that the seasonal effects in the cusp region are stronger in the thermospheric and ionospheric responses to the FAC variations than to the precipitation disturbances.     

Properties of electric turbulence in the polar cap ionosphere

Small-scale (scales of ∼0.5–256 km) electric fields in the polar cap ionosphere are studied on the basis of measurements of the Dynamics Explorer 2 (DE-2) low-altitude satellite with a polar orbit. Nineteen DE-2 passes through the high-latitude ionosphere from the morning side to the evening side are considered when the IMF z component was southward. A rather extensive polar cap, which could be identified using the ɛ-t spectrograms of precipitating particles with auroral energies, was formed during the analyzed events. It is shown that the logarithmic diagrams (LDs), constructed using the discrete wavelet transform of electric fields in the polar cap, are power law (μ ∼ s ^α). Here, μ is the variance of the detail coefficients of the signal discrete wavelet transform, s is the wavelet scale, and index α characterizes the LD slope. The probability density functions P(δE, s) of the electric field fluctuations δE observed on different scales s are non-Gaussian and have intensified wings. When the probability density functions are renormalized, that is constructed of δE/s ^γ, where γ is the scaling exponent, they lie near a single curve, which indicates that the studied fields are statistically self-similar. In spite of the fact that the amplitude of electric fluctuations in the polar cap is much smaller than in the auroral zone, the quantitative characteristics of field scaling in the two regions are similar. Two possible causes of the observed turbulent structure of the electric field in the polar cap are considered: (1) the structure is transferred from the solar wind, which is known to have turbulent properties, and (2) the structure is generated by convection velocity shears in the region of open magnetic field lines. The detected dependence of the characteristic distribution of turbulent electric fields over the polar cap region on IMF B _y and the correlation of the rms amplitudes of δE fluctuations with IMF B _z and the solar wind transfer function (B _y ² + B _z ²)^1/2sin(θ/2), where θ is the angle between the geomagnetic field and IMF reconnecting on the dayside magnetopause when IMF B _z < 0, together with the absence of dependence on the IMF variability are arguments for the second mechanism.     

Quantitative analysis of the relationship between polar ionospheric currents and auroral electrojet indices

Magnetic storms and substorms are principalprocesses of energy transition from the solar wind intothe magnetosphere-ionosphere system and dissipationin the system. They are also important events whichthe space physics study and space weather predictionhave been focused on. Magnetic storms are describedby means of the magnetic index Dst, which is calcu-lated using the magnetic disturbances of horizontalcomponent recorded at 5 low-latitudinal stations, rep-resenting approximately the symmetric r…     

Important flare events in variations of the auroral electrojet index

Summary The effects of solar proton flares and enhanced solar activity, indicated by intensive radio bursts in the decimetre range, on the Auroral Electrojet (AE) Index at the time these events occurred, are investigated. A significant increase in the level of the AE index was observed after the occurrence of these events.     

Features of the planetary distribution of auroral precipitation characteristics during substorms

A planetary pattern of substorm development in auroral precipitation has been constructed on the basis of the F6 and F7 satellite observations. The behavior of the auroral injection boundaries and characteristics of precipitating electrons in various precipitation regions during all phases of a statistically mean magnetospheric substorm with an intensity of AL ～ ?400 nT at a maximum is considered in detail. It is shown that during a substorm, the zone of structured auroral oval precipitation AOP and the diffuse auroral zone DAZ are the widest in the nighttime and daytime sectors, respectively. In the daytime sector, all precipitation regions synchronously shift equatorward not only at the origination phase but during the substorm development phase. The strongest shift to low latitudes of the daytime AOP region is observed at a maximum of the development phase. As a result of this shift, the area of the polar cap increases during the phases of substorm origination and development. It is shown that the average position of the precipitation boundaries and the energy fluxes of precipitating electrons at each phase are linearly related to the intensity of a magnetic disturbance. This makes it possible to develop a model of auroral precipitation development during each phase of substorms of any intensity.     

Relations between the sporadicE-layer and geomagnetic disturbances in the northern auroral and polar regions

Zusammenfassung Unter Anwendung der auf 12 Uhr GMT bezogenen Beobachtungen aus den 33 ionosph?rischen und geomagnetischen Stationen wurde eine statistische Analyse der Beziehungen zwischen dem Vorkommen der sporadischen E-Schicht und den geomagnetischen St?rungen durchgeführt. Es wurde keine einfache oder eindeutige Abh?ngigkeit gefunden. Die Ergebnisse deuten nur an, dass man gr?sseres Vorkommen der sporadischen E-Schicht in magnetisch mehr gest?rten Zeitabschnitten erwarten kann.

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Address: Bočni II, Praha 4-Spořilov.     

Seasonal variations of stable isotope in precipitation and moisture transport at Yushu,eastern Tibetan Plateau

Precipitation δ 18O at Yushu, eastern Tibetan Plateau, shows strong fluctuation and lack of clear seasonality. The seasonal pattern of precipitation stable isotope at Yushu is apparently different from either that of the southwest monsoon region to the south or that of the inland region to the north. This different seasonal pattern probably reflects the shift of different moisture sources. In this paper, we present the spatial comparison of the seasonal patterns of precipitation δ 18O, and calculate the moisture transport flux by using the NCAR/NCEP reanalysis data. This allows us to discuss the relation between moisture transport flux and precipitation δ 18O. This study shows that both the southwest monsoon from south and inland air mass transport from north affected the seasonal precipitation δ 18O at Yushu, eastern Tibetan Plateau. Southwest monsoon brings the main part of the moisture, but southwest transport flux is weaker than in the southern part of the Tibetan Plateau. However, contribution of the inland moisture from north or local evaporation moisture is enhanced. The combined effect is the strong fluctuation of summer precipitation δ 18O at Yushu and comparatively poor seasonality.     

Dynamics of the ionospheric electric currents and auroral luminosity boundaries during strong magnetic storms

The regularities in the southward drift of the ionospheric current centers and luminosity boundaries during strong magnetic storms of November 2003 and 2004 (with Dst ≈ ?400 and ?470 nT, respectively) are studied based on the global geomagnetic observations and TV measurements of auroras. It has been indicated that the eastward and westward electrojets in the dayside and nightside sectors simultaneously shift equatorward to minimal latitudes of Φ _min ^° ～53°–55°. It has been obtained that the Φ _min ^° latitude decreases with increasing negative values of Dst, IMF B _z component, and westward electric field strength in the solar wind. The dependence of the electrojet equatorward shift velocity (V _av) on the rate of IMF B _z variations (ΔB _z /Δt) has been determined. It is assumed that the electrojet dynamics along the meridian is caused by a change in the structure of the magnetosphere and electric fields in the solar wind and the Earth’s magnetosphere.     

Statistical characteristics of the equatorial boundary of the nightside auroral particle precipitation

Based on the auroral electron/ion precipitation boundary database observed by the DMSP satellites during 1984–2009, the characteristics of the nightside equatorial boundaries of the electron precipitation(B1E) and the ion precipitation(B1I) in the Northern/Southern Hemispheres(NH/SH) are statistically investigated. The results show: That most of the boundaries are located between magnetic latitude(MLAT) of 60°–70° with the mean MLAT for B1E/B1 I to be 64.30°N/63.22°N and 64.48°S/63.26°S in the NH and SH, respectively, indicating that B1 E and B1 I in both hemispheres are located in conjugated magnetic field lines with B1 E ~1.2° poleward of B1I; that the MLAT of B1 E and B1 I in both hemispheres shift to lower MLAT(from ~70° to ~55°) as geomagnetic activity increases; that MLAT of both B1 E and B1 I and their differences slowly decrease from dusk to midnight with some difference in both hemispheres during different levels of geomagnetic activities; that B1 E and B1 I in both hemisphere decrease linearly with Kp and exponentially with Dst, AE, and SYM-H, respectively, demonstrating that auroral particle precipitation is closely related with geomagnetic activity; that in different magnetic local time(MLT) sectors, the changing rates of the boundaries with Kp are different, and the rates of B1 E are generally larger than that of B1 I, implying that the difference between B1 E and B1 I reduce with increasing geomagnetic activity. Compared with previous studies, the statistical results based on the long-term large database in this paper can well reflect the properties of the equatorial boundaries of auroral precipitation and may be used for physical modeling or space weather forecasting in future.     

Long-term thermospheric neutral wind observations over the northern polar cap

We study the solar dependence of the thermospheric dynamics based on more than 20 years Fabry–Perot interferometer O 6300 Å emission observation of polar cap thermospheric wind from three stations: Thule (76.53°N, 68.73°W, MLAT 86N), Eureka (80.06°N, 86.4°W, MLAT 89N), and Resolute (74.72°N, 94.98°W, MLAT 84N) in combination with the National Center for Atmospheric Research Thermosphere Ionosphere Electrodynamics General Circulation Model (NCAR-TIEGCM). All three stations showed a dominant diurnal oscillation in both the meridional and zonal components, which is a manifestation of anti-sunward thermospheric wind in the polar cap. The three-station observations and the TIEGCM simulation exhibit varying degree of correlations between the anti-sunward thermospheric wind and solar F10.7 index. The diurnal oscillation is stronger at Eureka (∼150 m/s) than that at Resolute (∼100 m/s) according to both observations and TIEGCM simulation. The semidiurnal oscillation is stronger at Resolute (∼20 m/s) than that at Eureka based (∼10 m/s) on data and model results. These results are consistent with a two-cell convection pattern in the polar cap thermospheric winds. The Thule results are less consistent between the model and observations. The simulated meridional wind diurnal and semidiurnal oscillations are stronger than those observed.