N. Partamies

Substorm evolution of auroral structures

Auroral arcs are often associated with magnetically quiet time and substorm growth phases. We have studied the evolution of auroral structures during global and local magnetic activity to investigate the occurrence rate of auroral arcs during different levels of magnetic activity. The ground-magnetic and auroral conditions are described by the magnetometer and auroral camera data from five Magnetometers — Ionospheric radars — All-sky cameras Large Experiment stations in Finnish and Swedish Lapland. We identified substorm growth, expansion, and recovery phases from the local electrojet index (IL) in 1996–2007 and analyzed the auroral structures during the different phases. Auroral structures were also analyzed during different global magnetic activity levels, as described by the planetary Kp index. The distribution of auroral structures for all substorm phases and Kp levels is of similar shape. About one third of all detected structures are auroral arcs. This suggests that auroral arcs occur in all conditions as the main element of the aurora. The most arc-dominated substorm phases occur in the premidnight sector, while the least arc-dominated substorm phases take place in the dawn sector. Arc event lifetimes and expectation times calculated for different substorm phases show that the longest arc-dominated periods are found during growth phases, while the longest arc waiting times occur during expansion phases. Most of the arc events end when arcs evolve to more complex structures. This is true for all substorm phases. Based on the number of images of auroral arcs and the durations of substorm phases, we conclude that a randomly selected auroral arc most likely belongs to a substorm expansion phase. A small time delay, of the order of a minute, is observed between the magnetic signature of the substorm onset (i.e., the beginning of the negative bay) and the auroral breakup (i.e., the growth phase arc changing into a dynamic display). The magnetic onset was observed to precede the structural change in the auroral display. A longer delay of a few minutes was found between the beginning of the growth phase and the first detected auroral structure.

Further evidence for the role of magnetotail current shape in substorm initiation

Substorm initiation still remains an unsolved problem, even though there is a consensus among most researchers that its main stages include dayside reconnection and substorm expansion. Dayside reconnection results in magnetotail flux buildup to a certain critical level, after which [or after the interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) Bz turns northward] the substorm expansion begins. One problem with the above scenario is that the critical amount of magnetic flux differs from one substorm to another, and not every northward turning of the IMF Bz triggers a substorm. We suggest that an important factor in substorm dynamics may be the variable shape and alignment of the magnetospheric tail current sheet, which bends and warps in response to diurnal/seasonal changes of the Earth’s dipole tilt angle and also in response to more rapid changes of the solar wind flow direction. Both of these factors may be important, if one assumes that the deformed current sheet becomes unstable at lower values of the tail lobe magnetic flux/pressure than the planar sheet. To investigate this idea, we examined large multi-year sets of THEMIS, Cluster, and Geotail data and established a relationship between the tail lobe Bx and the dipole tilt angle. Further examinations of substorm events during 2005–2010 supported the hypothesis that their probability and intensity indeed depended on the concurrent values of the tilt angle.

On the correlation between the fast solar wind flow changes and substorm occurrence

There is a point of view that solar wind factors, which break the magnetotail symmetry, are more effective in triggering the magnetospheric substorm. To clarify the question we use a database of substorm onsets and found the evident dependence of the substorm probability on the solar wind flow direction jumps (asymmetric factor), while distribution of the substorm occurrence on the solar wind number density jumps (symmetric factor) is homogeneous. The theoretical interpretation is based on the extension of the existing symmetric Kan model for a bent current sheet. Allowing the model tilt angle to vary in time, we found that the induced electric field penetrates to the central region of the bent current sheet. If the solar wind direction jump increases the bending, then induced electric field thins the current sheet and thus stimulates the reconnection. In the opposite case the current sheet thickens. We claim that this effect is sufficient (provides twice or more thinning of the current sheet in 10 min).

Occurrence and average behavior of pulsating aurora

Motivated by recent event studies and modelling efforts on pulsating aurora, which conclude that the precipitation energy during these events is high enough to cause significant chemical changes in the mesosphere, this study looks for the bulk behaviour of auroral pulsations. Based on about 400 pulsating aurora events we outline the typical duration, geomagnetic conditions and change in the peak emission height for the events. We show that the auroral peak emission height for both green and blue emission decreases by about 8 km at the start of the pulsating aurora interval. This brings the hardest 10% of the electrons down to about 90 km altitude. The median duration of pulsating aurora is about 1.4 hours. This value is a conservative estimate since in many cases the end of event is limited by the end of auroral imaging for the night or the aurora drifting out of the camera field-of-view. The longest durations of auroral pulsations are observed during events which start within the substorm recovery phases. As a result, the geomagnetic indices are not able to describe pulsating aurora. Simultaneous Antarctic auroral images were found for ten pulsating aurora events. In eight cases auroral pulsations were seen in the southern hemispheric data as well, suggesting an equatorial precipitation source and a frequent inter-hemispheric occurrence. The long lifetimes of pulsating aurora, their inter-hemispheric occurrence and the relatively high precipitation energies make this type of aurora an effective energy deposition process which is easy to identify from the ground-based image data.

Energetic electron precipitation and auroral morphology at the substorm recovery phase

It is well known that auroral patterns at the substorm recovery phase are characterized by diffuse or patch structures with intensity pulsation. According to satellite measurements and simulation studies, the precipitating electrons associated with these aurorae can reach or exceed energies of a few hundreds of keV through resonant wave-particle interactions in the magnetosphere. However, because of difficulty of simultaneous measurements, the dependency of energetic electron precipitation (EEP) on auroral morphological changes in the mesoscale has not been investigated to date. In order to study this dependency, we have analyzed data from the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radar, the Kilpisjarvi Atmospheric Imaging Receiver Array (KAIRA) riometer, collocated cameras, ground-based magnetometers, the Van Allen Probe satellites, Polar Operational Environmental Satellites (POES), and the Antarctic-Arctic Radiation-belt (Dynamic) Deposition-VLF Atmospheric Research Konsortium (AARDDVARK). Here we undertake a detailed examination of two case studies. The selected two events suggest that the highest energy of EEP on those days occurred with auroral patch formation from postmidnight to dawn, coinciding with the substorm onset at local midnight. Measurements of the EISCAT radar showed ionization as low as 65 km altitude, corresponding to EEP with energies of about 500 keV.