Conjugacy of the aurora: high and low latitudes. Technical report

Technical Report · Fri Feb 05 04:00:00 EST 1988

OSTI ID:6839750

Mizera, P F; Gorney, D J; Evans, D S

On December 5, 1983 the polar-orbiting satellites NOAA-7 and DMSP-F6, while in opposite hemispheres, each crossed a narrow structure of auroral electron precipitation at nearly the same Universal Time (UT) and at the same high magnetic-latitude, local time location. The Operational Line Scanner (OLS) image taken by DMSP-F6 of the northern polar region showed that this enhancement was associated with a sun-aligned arc (SAA) which extended poleward from the midnight sector auroral zone and passed across the polar cap very near to the magnetic pole. The DMSP-F6 plasma measurements showed particle precipitation at background levels in the regions adjacent to the SAA suggesting that those magnetic field lines connected to the interplanetary medium via the northern tail lobe. NOAA-7 observations show that the analogous precipitation structure in the southern hemisphere was embedded in a region of low intensity ion and electron precipitation which had the characteristics of the plasma-sheet population. Comparisons between the boundaries of the lower-latitude auroral zone precipitation and the electron distributions at those boundaries were also made. The results of these comparisons together with those made for the high-altitude SAA argue for a high degree of inter-hemisphere conjugacy in the electron precipitation over a wide range of invariant magnetic latitudes.

• Research Organization: Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA (USA). Space Sciences Lab.
• OSTI ID: 6839750
• Report Number(s): AD-A-193008/0/XAB; TR-0086A(2940-06)-4
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

640201* -- Atmospheric Physics-- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magetospheric Phenomena
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AURORAE
CHARGED PARTICLES
CHARGED-PARTICLE PRECIPITATION
DISTRIBUTION
DOCUMENT TYPES
ELECTRON PRECIPITATION
GEOMAGNETIC CONJUGACY
INTERPLANETARY SPACE
IONS
MAGNETIC FIELDS
PARTICLES
POLAR REGIONS
PROGRESS REPORT
SHEETS
SPACE