R. D. Elphinstone

What is a global auroral substorm

The departure of the aurora from quiet levels in a dynamic manner constitutes some type of auroral “breakup” event. Research into the auroral breakup predates the International Geophysical Year (1957/1958). This feature of the aurora, and the later, more global concept of the auroral substorm, has become a focus for much of the auroral research that occurs today. New instrumentation and global collaborations continue to refine our knowledge of the substorm process and how it proceeds in the ionosphere. In particular, global auroral imaging has advanced our understanding of the dynamics of the process and has given us the ability to put localized observations into a global perspective. Fundamentally new cycles of auroral activity are now understood to exist, and this has provided a means by which auroral activity can answer questions about magnetospheric substorm dynamics. Along with this wealth of observations has come a wide range of theories purporting to explain the mechanism of the onset of this phenomenon. There is, however, no single theory which stands out as clearly explaining the wide range of active auroral phenomena. A synthesis which combines these theories and allows them to each explain individual aspects of the problem appears to be required. This has led to a new way of understanding the active aurora as a set of processes or modules which occur either coupled together or independent of one another to form a particular event. This view represents a fundamental departure from the view of the substorm as a single unchanging entity. Auroral activity can rather be thought of as the earthward end of a diverse set of ionospheric and magnetospheric processes which couple together to form different cyclical patterns. A symbolic representation of this modularization is presented to simplify future schematics of large-scale auroral dynamics.

Interpretation of optical substorm onset observations

Abstract The ionospheric location of substorm onset is generally found to be at the most equatorward arc in the poleward portion of the diffuse aurora. The observation that most activity occurs in this region provides a reference from which the source region in the magnetotail may be assessed. This reference can be examined in two ways. First, magnetic field mappings of these onset locations to the equatorial plane suggest that the onset is associated with processes quite near the Earth. For example, for 14 cases the average GSM X value was found to be ≈ −7.8 R E . However, this identification is based on a static magnetic field model and while these results are consistent with some earlier findings there is not sufficient confidence in this technique to discriminate between topological regions in the magnetotail. A second way to examine the ionospheric onset location is in relation to the open/closed field line boundary. It is evident from Viking satellite images that optical substorm expansions can occur well equatorward of the poleward extent of emissions, both during quiet and active periods. There is no reason to suspect that this poleward region of emissions is not on closed field lines and that the onset location is therefore unrelated to the open/closed field line boundary, a result consistent with some (but not all) near-Earth mechanisms but only under some conditions with the distant tail boundary layer theory.

The auroral distribution and its mapping according to substorm phase

Abstract An attempt is made to reconcile two competing views as to where the auroral distribution maps from in the magnetosphere. The structure of the aurora is shown to have two distinctive parts which vary according to the magnetic activity. The low latitude portion of the structured distribution may be a near-Earth central plasma sheet phenomenon while the high latitude portion is linked more closely to boundary layer processes. During quiet times, the polar arcs may be the ionospheric signature of a source region in the deep tail low latitude boundary layer/cool plasma sheet. The structured portion of the ‘oval’ has a dominantly near-Earth nightside source and corresponds to an overlap region between isotropic 1–10 keV electrons and 0.1–1 keV structured electrons. The ionospheric local time sector between 13 and 18 MLT is the meeting point between the dayside boundary layer source region and this near-Earth nightside source. Late in the substorm expansion phase and/or start of the substorm recovery phase, the nightside magnetospheric boundaries (both the low latitude and Plasma Sheet Boundary Layers) begin to play an increasingly important role, resulting in an auroral distribution specific to the substorm recovery phase. These auroral observations provide a means of inferring important information concerning magnetospheric topology.

Satellite observations of polar arcs

Abstract The increased probability of observing polar arcs during periods of northward IMF has tended to obscure their significance in terms of magnetospheric topology because of the presumed ‘inactive’ state of the magnetosphere. However, satellite imaging has shown that these high latitude features are quite dynamic both in their intensity and spatial variations. The overall morphology of the high latitude aurora has been described by a variety of imaginative terms, but its primary optical characteristic is of a polar arc(s) extending between the dayside and nightside auroral distribution on one or both of the dawn/dusk sides of the high latitude region. This large scale morphology is controlled by the azimuth angle of the IMF and the predominant configuration is one wherein the region between the polar arc and the normal auroral distribution is filled with low intensity diffuse emission. Simultaneous particle and electric field measurements show this region exhibits a closed field line character with predominantly sunward flowing plasma. These large scale polar arcs are connected (in either a diffuse or discrete fashion) to the nightside auroral distribution with essentially equal probabilities, but exhibit a clear peak near 12 MLT. This dayside connection is commonly associated with isolated high latitude features poleward of the normal auroral distribution which probably represent processes occurring on the front surface of the magnetotail poleward of the cusp. The existence of polar arcs is not always controlled by substorm activity: polar arcs can maintain their form and position well past expansion phase suggesting that they represent a fundamental boundary in the magnetosphere which is not modified by even large substorms.

Dayside Aurora Poleward of the Main Auroral Distribution: Implications for Convection and Mapping

The morphology of high latitude polar arcs is used in conjunction with mapping considerations to infer source regions for convection cells during quiet time conditions. A simple set of rules are presented to aid a researcher in mapping from the high latitude ionosphere into a relatively closed magnetosphere. It is suggested that the multi-cell convection (> two cells) is not a result of large scale magnetospheric convective changes but rather is due to relatively localized low latitude boundary layer instabilities such as the Kelvin Helmholtz in the deep tail. For IMF By 0 in the dusk sector) may be on closed field lines mapping to the flanks of the magnetotail. Changing the flow in that region could give rise to a third clockwise cell in the dawn sector or a well defined anticlockwise cell in the dayside dawn ionosphere with a “turbulent” flow pattern on the nightside. The frequent observation of two arcs embedded within a main sun-aligned structured can also be interpreted by this method. Examples are given as to how each situation could arise.

Filamentary structure of the westward electrojet in the midnight sector auroral distribution during substorms: comparison with Viking auroral observations

The relationship between equivalent electric currents, auroral absorption and aurora structures in the midnight auroral distribution is examined using the ground magnetic and riometer observations along the Kara meridional chain of stations and auroral images obtained by the Viking spacecraft. Equivalent currents are calculated by the method of Kotikovet al. [(1987) Geophysica23, 143] on the basis of the magnetic data. A filamentary structure of westward currents is found in the midnight auroral electrojet during substorm expansion phase. This structure develops in the poleward part of the auroral distribution only in those cases when intense auroral absorption spreads to the appropriate latitudes, and these structured westward currents are observed in areas where the UV auroral luminosity is high. Justifications that the calculated equivalent currents are real ionospheric currents are presented. Calculation of the ionospheric conductivity based on the measurements of precipitating electrons from DMSP-F7 shows that the conductivity in the regions of the westward filaments is enhanced.

Wave characteristics obtained from OH rotational temperatures and 557.7 nm airglow intensities

Abstract Variations of OH rotational temperature and 557.7 nm atomic oxygen intensity have been measured from Calgary, Alberta, Canada (51°10′N, 114°13′W) from 1985 to 1987. For three nights studied in detail the OH rotational temperature wave structure at 85 km was negatively correlated with the green line emission at 95 km, indicating that wave activity linked the two regions. The lower altitude region displayed high and low frequency wave structure, but by 95 km the high frequency component had disappeared. Temperature data from 16 nights during which there was obvious wave activity yielded horizontal wavelengths from about 5–100 km and inferred vertical wavelengths from 0.7 to 8 km. The horizontal and vertical angles of propagation imply a statistical source to the observed waves as being located south of Calgary along the Rocky Mountain range. There appeared to be very few, if any, wave structures propagating towards the southeast indicating a probable filtering mechanism by the background winds between the Earths surface and 85 km.

The analysis of hydroxyl rotational temperatures to characterize moving thermal structures near the mesopause

Abstract Hydroxyl (OH) rotational temperatures near 85 km altitude have been monitored at Calgary, Alberta, Canada (51°N, 114°W) since 1981 with the objective of determining velocities, wavelengths and periods associated with moving temperature structures. A technique is described whereby the velocity of moving patterns in two dimensional data sets can be accurately determined and used as a parameter for a global smoothing algorithm. Velocities of the structures in the meridional direction were found to be directed poleward. Corresponding Doppler bulk wind velocities measured near the 95 km height region were directed equatorward indicating the presence of filtering of internal gravity waves by the background wind. Two coherent wave structures were often observed simultaneously during a night. The smaller of the two structures had true wavelengths less than 15–30 km and may be related to billow clouds often reported in noctilucent cloud observations. The second wave has a period on the order of an hour and meridional wavelengths ranging from 100 to 2000 km.

A technique for the analysis of two-dimensional data: application to OI 5577Å airglow

Abstract A method to determine whether a two-dimensional data set can be represented by two independent separable functions is demonstrated using both synthetic data and satellite observations of OI 5577A airglow. For such cases when the functions are separable it is possible to identify the function in the presence of noise using an iterative procedure based on the properties of an equitable matrix. In the specific case of the airglow, the latitudinal and temporal variations are separable for the data set studied. The spatial structure shows a minimum near the equator, with maxima at 35° in the winter hemisphere and 25° in the summer hemisphere. The long-term temporal function shows maxima after the equinoxes, with minima near the solstice. A 12 month component has a maximum near day 300.