Quiet-time intensifications along the poleward auroral boundary near midnight

Technical Report · Tue Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1994

OSTI ID:7033377

Delabeaujardiere, O; Lyons, L R; Ruohoniemi, J M; Friis-Christensen, E; Danielsen, C; Rich, F J; Newel, P T

Radar and optical measurements from Sondrestrom are combined with satellite and Goose Bay data in a study of the poleward edge of the nightside auroral oval during a quiet period. The B(sub y) and B(sub z) components of the interplanetary magnetic field were close to zero, and the B(sub x) component was approximately 8 nT for more than 24 hours. On a large scale, the convection and precipitation patterns remained almost constant during this period; on a small scale, however, the conditions were quite dynamic. At 10- to 20-minute intervals, the arc that marked the poleward auroral boundary intensified, and a new arc appeared poleward of it. About once per hour, stronger intensifications were observed. One such event is examined in detail. The auroral arcs first appeared to dim, and then they brightened, with a factor of ten increase in E region electron density. At the time of the brightening, a new arc formed poleward of all the arcs. The arcs then drifted southward at velocities of approximately 70 m/s. A plasma drift disturbance, characterized by a doubling of the southward velocity and a reversal in the east-west component, propagated westward at 900 m/s through the fields of view of the Sondrestrom and Goose Bay radars. A simultaneous satellite overpass close to the radars revealed the presence of an energetic ion event similar to the 'velocity dispersed ion structures' observed on the Aureol satellite and presumed to be the signature of fast ion beams within the plasma sheet boundary layer. The stronger arc intensification events observed by the Sondrestrom radar are associated with an increase in plasma flow across the boundary between open and closed magnetic field lines. This increased flow is interpreted as the ionospheric signature of abrupt, localized increases in the reconnection rate in the midnight sector.

• Research Organization: Aerospace Corp., El Segundo, CA (United States)
• OSTI ID: 7033377
• Report Number(s): ATR-93(7248)-2
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

661320* -- Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena-- (1992-)
71 CLASSICAL AND QUANTUM MECHANICS
GENERAL PHYSICS
AURORAL OVAL
CHARGED-PARTICLE PRECIPITATION
E REGION
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
INTERPLANETARY MAGNETIC FIELDS
IONOSPHERE
MAGNETIC FIELDS
MAGNETIC RECONNECTION
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
PLASMA DRIFT
VARIATIONS