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Title: Energetic electron precipitation associated with pulsating aurora: EISCAT and Van Allen Probe observations

Journal Article · · Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1002/2014JA020690· OSTI ID:1212464
 [1];  [1];  [2];  [1];  [3];  [4];  [5];  [6];  [7];  [8];  [9];  [10];  [11];  [12]
  1. Nagoya Univ., Nagoya (Japan). Solar-Terrestrial Environment Lab.
  2. Nagoya Univ., Nagoya (Japan). Graduate School of Science.
  3. Seikei Univ., Musashino (Japan). Faculty of Science and Technology.
  4. National Institute of Polar Research, Tachikawa (Japan)
  5. Kyoto Univ., Uji (Japan). Research Institute for Sustainable Humanosphere.
  6. Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City, IA (United States)
  7. Los Alamos National Lab. (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
  8. Institute of Atmospheric Physics CAS, Prague (Czech Republic). Dept. of Space Physics; Charles Univ. in Prague, Prague (Czech Republic). Faculty of Mathematics and Physics.
  9. British Antarctic Survey, Cambridge (United Kingdom)
  10. Univ. of Otago, Dunedin (New Zealand). Dept. of Physics.
  11. Univ. of Oulu, Oulu (Finland). Sodankyla Geophysical Observatory.
  12. Tohoku Univ., Sendai (Japan). Planetary Plasma and Atmospheric Research Center.
+ Show Author Affiliations

Pulsating auroras show quasi-periodic intensity modulations caused by the precipitation of energetic electrons of the order of tens of keV. It is expected theoretically that not only these electrons but also subrelativistic/relativistic electrons precipitate simultaneously into the ionosphere owing to whistler mode wave-particle interactions. The height-resolved electron density profile was observed with the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) Tromsø VHF radar on 17 November 2012. Electron density enhancements were clearly identified at altitudes >68 km in association with the pulsating aurora, suggesting precipitation of electrons with a broadband energy range from ~10 keV up to at least 200 keV. The riometer and network of subionospheric radio wave observations also showed the energetic electron precipitations during this period. During this period, the footprint of the Van Allen Probe-A satellite was very close to Tromsø and the satellite observed rising tone emissions of the lower band chorus (LBC) waves near the equatorial plane. Considering the observed LBC waves and electrons, we conducted a computer simulation of the wave-particle interactions. This showed simultaneous precipitation of electrons at both tens of keV and a few hundred keV, which is consistent with the energy spectrum estimated by the inversion method using the EISCAT observations. This result revealed that electrons with a wide energy range simultaneously precipitate into the ionosphere in association with the pulsating aurora, providing the evidence that pulsating auroras are caused by whistler chorus waves. We suggest that scattering by propagating whistler simultaneously causes both the precipitations of subrelativistic electrons and the pulsating aurora.

Research Organization:
Los Alamos National Laboratory (LANL), Los Alamos, NM (United States)
Sponsoring Organization:
USDOE
Grant/Contract Number:
AC52-06NA25396
OSTI ID:
1212464
Journal Information:
Journal of Geophysical Research. Space Physics, Vol. 120, Issue 4; ISSN 2169-9380
Publisher:
American Geophysical UnionCopyright Statement
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English
Citation Metrics:
Cited by: 128 works
Citation information provided by
Web of Science

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Cited By (16)

FORESAIL‐1 CubeSat Mission to Measure Radiation Belt Losses and Demonstrate Deorbiting journal July 2019
Rapid Precipitation of Relativistic Electron by EMIC Rising‐Tone Emissions Observed by the Van Allen Probes journal August 2019
Ground-based instruments of the PWING project to investigate dynamics of the inner magnetosphere at subauroral latitudes as a part of the ERG-ground coordinated observation network journal November 2017
Direct Comparison Between Magnetospheric Plasma Waves and Polar Mesosphere Winter Echoes in Both Hemispheres journal November 2019
Visualization of rapid electron precipitation via chorus element wave–particle interactions journal January 2019
Pulsating proton aurora caused by rising tone Pc1 waves journal February 2016
Transient ionization of the mesosphere during auroral breakup: Arase satellite and ground-based conjugate observations at Syowa Station journal January 2019
Fast modulations of pulsating proton aurora related to subpacket structures of Pc1 geomagnetic pulsations at subauroral latitudes: PPA AND PC1 PULSATIONS journal August 2016
Theory, modeling, and integrated studies in the Arase (ERG) project journal February 2018
Energetic Electron Precipitation Associated With Pulsating Aurora Observed by VLF Radio Propagation During the Recovery Phase of a Substorm on 27 March 2017 journal December 2018
Polarization Electric Field Inside Auroral Patches: Simultaneous Experiment of EISCAT Radars and KAIRA journal May 2019
Strong Diffusion of Energetic Electrons by Equatorial Chorus Waves in the Midnight‐to‐Dawn Sector journal November 2019
Onboard software of Plasma Wave Experiment aboard Arase: instrument management and signal processing of Waveform Capture/Onboard Frequency Analyzer journal May 2018
Relativistic electron precipitations in association with diffuse aurora: Conjugate observation of SAMPEX and the all-sky TV camera at Syowa Station: RELATIVISTIC ELECTRON PRECIPITATIONS journal June 2015
Microscopic Observations of Pulsating Aurora Associated With Chorus Element Structures: Coordinated Arase Satellite‐PWING Observations journal November 2018
FORESAIL-1 cubesat mission to measure radiation belt losses and demonstrate de-orbiting text January 2019

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