Artificial auroras in the upper atmosphere: 2. Imaging results
- Lockheed Palo Alto Research Laboratories, CA (United States)
- Southwest Research Inst., San Antonio, TX (United States)
- NASA Marshall Space Flight Center, Huntsville, AL (United States)
On the ATLAS 1 mission (STS-45, launched March 24, 1992) two experiments, AEPI (Atmospheric Emissions Photometric Imaging) and SEPAC (Space Experiments with Particle Accelerators) performed the first experiment in a series of active experiments intended to probe the atmosphere, ionosphere and magnetosphere with electron beams. The luminous artificial aurora generated by the electron beam interaction was detected and measured by AEPI both in white light and in a narrow wavelength band at 427.8 nm (peak intensity 5 kR). Modelling calculation showed that there was a significant contribution from emissions originating near the spacecraft. The spatial intensity distribution of the observed auroral patch is consistent with emission contribution from both high and low altitude regions. An extended tail in the direction of the shuttle wake was observed in the 427.8 nm channel, consistent with a decay time associated with the dissipation of the hot electron plasma. 19 refs., 4 figs., 2 tabs.
- OSTI ID:
- 6771949
- Journal Information:
- Geophysical Research Letters (American Geophysical Union); (United States), Vol. 20:6; ISSN 0094-8276
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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GENERAL PHYSICS
AURORAE
EMISSION
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SYNTHESIS
ELECTRON BEAMS
BEAM INJECTION
PULSES
EARTH ATMOSPHERE
EARTH MAGNETOSPHERE
IONOSPHERE
PLASMA
BEAMS
LEPTON BEAMS
PARTICLE BEAMS
PLANETARY IONOSPHERES
661320* - Auroral
Ionospheric
& Magnetospheric Phenomena- (1992-)