Velocity spike at the poleward edge of the auroral zone

Details Velocity spike at the poleward edge of the auroral zone Velocity spike at the poleward edge of the auroral zone

Mar 1984

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1984jgr....89.1627d&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 89, March 1, 1984, p. 1627-1634.

Physics

5

Atmospheric Electricity, Auroral Zones, Electric Fields, Energy Spectra, Explorer 51 Satellite, Ion Temperature, Ionospheric Electron Density, Radar Measurement

Scientific paper

Data from coordinated observations of the Chatanika incoherent scatter radar and the Atmosphere Explorer C satellite are examined to study the poleward edge of the auroral zone for one pass in the morning sector. A very intense, spikelike electric field is seen at the boundary between the auroral zone and the polar cap, coincident with the convection reversal. The particle detector data are consistent with the presence of a pair of oppositely oriented potential drops parallel to the magnetic field. These potential drops are of a few hundred electron volts, and their direction is such that the precipitating electrons are accelerated on the poleward side and decelerated on the equatorward side of the electric field spike. These observations are examined in the light of recent theoretical investigations that have shown that parallel acceleration can indeed be expected to occur in the regions of large velocity shear. The Chatanika data suggest that such spikes may occur repeatedly at the poleward edge of the diffuse aurora, but that they are confined in either time or space.

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