Fabry-Perot spectrometer observations of the auroral oval/polar cap boundary above Mawson, Antarctica

1996 ◽  
Vol 58 (16) ◽  
pp. 1973-1988 ◽  
Author(s):  
J.L. Innis ◽  
P.A. Greet ◽  
P.L. Dyson
Keyword(s):  
Auroral Oval ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Fabry Perot

scholarly journals Evidence for thermospheric gravity waves in the southern polar cap from ground-based vertical velocity and photometric observations

2001 ◽  
Vol 19 (5) ◽  
pp. 533-543 ◽  
Author(s):  
J. L. Innis ◽  
P. A. Greet ◽  
P. L. Dyson
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Vertical Velocity ◽  
Auroral Oval ◽  
Local Times ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Photometric Observations ◽  
Fabry Perot ◽  
Waves And Tides ◽  
Thermospheric Dynamics ◽  
Vertical Winds

Abstract. Zenith-directed Fabry-Perot Spectrometer (FPS) and 3-Field Photometer (3FP) observations of the λ630 nm emission (~240 km altitude) were obtained at Davis station, Antarctica, during the austral winter of 1999. Eleven nights of suitable data were searched for significant periodicities common to vertical winds from the FPS and photo-metric variations from the 3FP. Three wave-like events were found, each of around one or more hours in duration, with periods around 15 minutes, vertical velocity amplitudes near 60 ms–1 , horizontal phase velocities around 300 ms–1 , and horizontal wavelengths from 240 to 400 km. These characteristics appear consistent with polar cap gravity waves seen by other workers, and we conclude this is a likely interpretation of our data. Assuming a source height near 125 km altitude, we determine the approximate source location by calculating back along the wave trajectory using the gravity wave property relating angle of ascent and frequency. The wave sources appear to be in the vicinity of the poleward border of the auroral oval, at magnetic local times up to 5 hours before local magnetic midnight.Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (thermospheric dynamics; waves and tides)

scholarly journals Thermospheric vertical winds in the auroral oval/polar cap region

2002 ◽  
Vol 20 (12) ◽  
pp. 1987-2001 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. A. Greet ◽  
J. L. Innis ◽  
P. L. Dyson
Keyword(s):  
Auroral Oval ◽  
Atmospheric Dynamics ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Frequency Distributions ◽  
Meteorology And Atmospheric Dynamics ◽  
Fabry Perot ◽  
Thermospheric Winds ◽  
Thermospheric Dynamics ◽  
Vertical Winds ◽  
Range Of Variation

Abstract. Thermospheric mean vertical winds from high-resolution Fabry-Perot Spectrometer observations of the l630 nm emission (from ~ 240 km altitude), over a four year interval 1997–2000, from Mawson (67.6° S, 62.9° E, Inv 70.5° S) and Davis (68.6° S, 78.0° E, Inv 74.6° S) are presented. Combining the four years of data shows Mawson mean hourly vertical winds vary between -10 ms-1 and +4 ms-1, while Davis mean hourly vertical winds vary between - 0 ms-1 and +10 ms-1. Mean hourly vertical winds from Mawson show little change with Kp, while at Davis the range of variation increases with increasing geomagnetic activity. Histograms of frequency distributions of such winds, and their variations with Kp and l630 nm emission intensity, are presented and discussed. Variations in mean hourly thermospheric winds and l630 nm emission intensities show at least three significant associations between mean vertical winds and the auroral oval. Mean vertical winds within the auroral oval are smaller than those outside the oval, particularly those in the polar cap. A downward wind associated with entry of the observing region into the auroral oval can be seen in both Mawson and Davis hourly mean vertical winds. Large vertical winds are seen poleward of the auroral oval/polar cap boundary, most significantly upward winds occur within ± 2 hr of magnetic midnight. Under moderately quiet geomagnetic conditions Davis passes through the auroral oval into the polar cap in the evening, but at higher Kp it passes into the polar cap earlier and larger, and more sustained mean vertical winds are observed.Key words. Meteorology and atmospheric dynamics (thermospheric dynamics)

scholarly journals Aurora and open magnetic flux during isolated substorms, sawteeth, and SMC events

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (8) ◽  
pp. 1865-1876 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. D. DeJong ◽  
X. Cai ◽  
R. C. Clauer ◽  
J. F. Spann
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Flux ◽  
Temporal Variations ◽  
Auroral Oval ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Expansion Phase ◽  
Magnetospheric Convection ◽  
Open Magnetic Flux ◽  
Open Flux ◽  
The Individual

Abstract. Using Polar UVI LBHl and IMAGE FUV WIC data, we have compared the auroral signatures and polar cap open flux for isolated substorms, sawteeth oscillations, and steady magnetospheric convection (SMC) events. First, a case study of each event type is performed, comparing auroral signatures and open magnetic fluxes to one another. The latitude location of the auroral oval is similar during isolated substorms and SMC events. The auroral intensity during SMC events is similar to that observed during the expansion phase of an isolated substorm. Examination of an individual sawtooth shows that the auroral intensity is much greater than the SMC or isolated substorm events and the auroral oval is displaced equatorward making a larger polar cap. The temporal variations observed during the individual sawtooth are similar to that observed during the isolated substorm, and while the change in polar cap flux measured during the sawtooth is larger, the percent change in flux is similar to that measured during the isolated substorm. These results are confirmed by a statistical analysis of events within these three classes. The results show that the auroral oval measured during individual sawteeth contains a polar cap with, on average, 150% more magnetic flux than the oval measured during isolated substorms or during SMC events. However, both isolated substorms and sawteeth show a 30% decrease in polar cap magnetic flux during the dipolarization (expansion) phase.

scholarly journals High time resolution measurements of the thermosphere from Fabry-Perot Interferometer measurements of atomic oxygen

2007 ◽  
Vol 25 (6) ◽  
pp. 1269-1278 ◽  
Author(s):  
E. A. K. Ford ◽  
A. L. Aruliah ◽  
E. M. Griffin ◽  
I. McWhirter
Keyword(s):  
Gravity Waves ◽  
Time Resolution ◽  
Lower Thermosphere ◽  
Line Emission ◽  
Auroral Oval ◽  
High Time ◽  
High Time Resolution ◽  
Short Period ◽  
Fabry Perot ◽  
Thermospheric Winds

Abstract. Recent advances in the performance of CCD detectors have enabled a high time resolution study of the high latitude upper thermosphere with Fabry-Perot Interferometers (FPIs) to be performed. 10-s integration times were used during a campaign in April 2004 on an FPI located in northern Sweden in the auroral oval. The FPI is used to study the thermosphere by measuring the oxygen red line emission at 630.0 nm, which emits at an altitude of approximately 240 km. Previous time resolutions have been 4 min at best, due to the cycle of look directions normally observed. By using 10 s rather than 40 s integration times, and by limiting the number of full cycles in a night, high resolution measurements down to 15 s were achievable. This has allowed the maximum variability of the thermospheric winds and temperatures, and 630.0 nm emission intensities, at approximately 240 km, to be determined as a few minutes. This is a significantly greater variability than the often assumed value of 1 h or more. A Lomb-Scargle analysis of this data has shown evidence of gravity wave activity with waves with short periods. Gravity waves are an important feature of mesosphere-lower thermosphere (MLT) dynamics, observed using many techniques and providing an important mechanism for energy transfer between atmospheric regions. At high latitudes gravity waves may be generated in-situ by localised auroral activity. Short period waves were detected in all four clear nights when this experiment was performed, in 630.0 nm intensities and thermospheric winds and temperatures. Waves with many periodicities were observed, from periods of several hours, down to 14 min. These waves were seen in all parameters over several nights, implying that this variability is a typical property of the thermosphere.

scholarly journals GPS phase scintillation at high latitudes during geomagnetic storms of 7–17 March 2012 – Part 1: The North American sector

2015 ◽  
Vol 33 (6) ◽  
pp. 637-656 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Prikryl ◽  
R. Ghoddousi-Fard ◽  
E. G. Thomas ◽  
J. M. Ruohoniemi ◽  
S. G. Shepherd ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Magnetic Field ◽  
Solar Wind ◽  
Geomagnetic Storms ◽  
Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Auroral Oval ◽  
Solar Wind Dynamic Pressure ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
The North ◽  
Auroral Emission ◽  
Ground Magnetic

Abstract. The interval of geomagnetic storms of 7–17 March 2012 was selected at the Climate and Weather of the Sun-Earth System (CAWSES) II Workshop for group study of space weather effects during the ascending phase of solar cycle 24 (Tsurutani et al., 2014). The high-latitude ionospheric response to a series of storms is studied using arrays of GPS receivers, HF radars, ionosondes, riometers, magnetometers, and auroral imagers focusing on GPS phase scintillation. Four geomagnetic storms showed varied responses to solar wind conditions characterized by the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) and solar wind dynamic pressure. As a function of magnetic latitude and magnetic local time, regions of enhanced scintillation are identified in the context of coupling processes between the solar wind and the magnetosphere–ionosphere system. Large southward IMF and high solar wind dynamic pressure resulted in the strongest scintillation in the nightside auroral oval. Scintillation occurrence was correlated with ground magnetic field perturbations and riometer absorption enhancements, and collocated with mapped auroral emission. During periods of southward IMF, scintillation was also collocated with ionospheric convection in the expanded dawn and dusk cells, with the antisunward convection in the polar cap and with a tongue of ionization fractured into patches. In contrast, large northward IMF combined with a strong solar wind dynamic pressure pulse was followed by scintillation caused by transpolar arcs in the polar cap.

scholarly journals EISCAT observations of unusual flows in the morning sector associated with weak substorm activity

1994 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 541-553 ◽  
Author(s):  
N. J. Fox ◽  
M. Lockwood ◽  
S. W. H. Cowley ◽  
M. P. Freeman ◽  
E. Friis-Christensen ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Auroral Oval ◽  
Geosynchronous Orbit ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Expansion Phase ◽  
Geomagnetic Tail ◽  
Density Depletion ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Pi2 Pulsations ◽  
Substorm Activity ◽  
Open Flux

Abstract. A discussion is given of plasma flows in the dawn and nightside high-latitude ionospheric regions during substorms occurring on a contracted auroral oval, as observed using the EISCAT CP-4-A experiment. Supporting data from the PACE radar, Greenland magnetometer chain, SAMNET magnetometers and geostationary satellites are compared to the EISCAT observations. On 4 October 1989 a weak substorm with initial expansion phase onset signatures at 0030 UT, resulted in the convection reversal boundary observed by EISCAT (at ~0415 MLT) contracting rapidly poleward, causing a band of elevated ionospheric ion temperatures and a localised plasma density depletion. This polar cap contraction event is shown to be associated with various substorm signatures; Pi2 pulsations at mid-latitudes, magnetic bays in the midnight sector and particle injections at geosynchronous orbit. A similar event was observed on the following day around 0230 UT (~0515 MLT) with the unusual and significant difference that two convection reversals were observed, both contracting poleward. We show that this feature is not an ionospheric signature of two active reconnection neutral lines as predicted by the near-Earth neutral model before the plasmoid is "pinched off", and present two alternative explanations in terms of (1) viscous and lobe circulation cells and (2) polar cap contraction during northward IMF. The voltage associated with the anti-sunward flow between the reversals reaches a maximum of 13 kV during the substorm expansion phase. This suggests it to be associated with the polar cap contraction and caused by the reconnection of open flux in the geomagnetic tail which has mimicked "viscous-like" momentum transfer across the magnetopause.

scholarly journals All Sky Camera and Fabry-Perot Interferometer Observations in the Northern Polar Cap

2002 ◽  
Vol 24 (3) ◽  
pp. 237-247 ◽  
Author(s):  
Qian Wu ◽  
Timothy L. Killeen ◽  
Stanley C. Solomon ◽  
Donald J. McEwen ◽  
Weiji Guo
Keyword(s):  
Polar Cap ◽  
Fabry Perot

scholarly journals EISCAT and Cluster observations in the vicinity of the dynamical polar cap boundary

2008 ◽  
Vol 26 (1) ◽  
pp. 87-105 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. T. Aikio ◽  
T. Pitkänen ◽  
D. Fontaine ◽  
I. Dandouras ◽  
O. Amm ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Neutral Line ◽  
Broad Band ◽  
Low Frequency ◽  
Recovery Phase ◽  
Auroral Oval ◽  
Polar Cap ◽  
Early Recovery ◽  
F Region ◽  
Cluster Data ◽  
Cluster Satellite

Abstract. The dynamics of the polar cap boundary and auroral oval in the nightside ionosphere are studied during late expansion and recovery of a substorm from the region between Tromsø (66.6° cgmLat) and Longyearbyen (75.2° cgmLat) on 27 February 2004 by using the coordinated EISCAT incoherent scatter radar, MIRACLE magnetometer and Cluster satellite measurements. During the late substorm expansion/early recovery phase, the polar cap boundary (PCB) made zig-zag-type motion with amplitude of 2.5° cgmLat and period of about 30 min near magnetic midnight. We suggest that the poleward motions of the PCB were produced by bursts of enhanced reconnection at the near-Earth neutral line (NENL). The subsequent equatorward motions of the PCB would then represent the recovery of the merging line towards the equilibrium state (Cowley and Lockwood, 1992). The observed bursts of enhanced westward electrojet just equatorward of the polar cap boundary during poleward expansions were produced plausibly by particles accelerated in the vicinity of the neutral line and thus lend evidence to the Cowley-Lockwood paradigm. During the substorm recovery phase, the footpoints of the Cluster satellites at a geocentric distance of 4.4 RE mapped in the vicinity of EISCAT measurements. Cluster data indicate that outflow of H+ and O+ ions took place within the plasma sheet boundary layer (PSBL) as noted in some earlier studies as well. We show that in this case the PSBL corresponded to a region of enhanced electron temperature in the ionospheric F region. It is suggested that the ion outflow originates from the F region as a result of increased ambipolar diffusion. At higher altitudes, the ions could be further energized by waves, which at Cluster altitudes were observed as BBELF (broad band extra low frequency) fluctuations. The four-satellite configuration of Cluster revealed a sudden poleward expansion of the PSBL by 2° during ~5 min. The beginning of the poleward motion of the PCB was associated with an intensification of the downward FAC at the boundary. We suggest that the downward FAC sheet at the PCB is the high-altitude counterpart of the Earthward flowing FAC produced in the vicinity of the magnetotail neutral line by the Hall effect (Sonnerup, 1979) during a short-lived reconnection pulse.

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