The Effect of Solar Wind Pressure Pulses on the Size and Strength of the Auroral Oval

Details The Effect of Solar Wind Pressure Pulses on the Size and Strength of the Auroral Oval The Effect of Solar Wind Pressure Pulses on the Size and Strength of the Auroral Oval

Dec 2001

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agufmsm42d..04b&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2001, abstract #SM42D-04

Mathematics

Logic

2704 Auroral Phenomena (2407), 2716 Energetic Particles, Precipitating, 2736 Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, 2776 Polar Cap Phenomena, 2784 Solar Wind/Magnetosphere Interactions

Scientific paper

It has been found recently that solar wind dynamic pressure changes can dramatically affect the precipitation of magnetospheric particles to the auroral ionosphere. We have examined the effect of large solar wind dynamic pressure increases on the location, size, and intensity of the auroral oval using particle precipitation data from Defense Meteorological Satellite Program (DMSP) spacecraft. Several events have been selected for study during the time period after 1997 when four DMSP spacecraft (F11 through F14) were simultaneously operational. IMF orientation is different from event to event. For each event, we determine the auroral oval equatorward and poleward boundaries from all available spacecraft using primarily electron energy flux characteristics. This determination is done separately for each hemisphere and for before, during and after an increase in solar wind pressure, resulting in easy comparisons of the location and width of the auroral oval under different solar wind conditions. Also, using the measured integral fluxes, we construct precipitating particle energy input maps for the auroral oval. All cases studied show a significant change of the auroral oval location, size and intensity in response to the solar wind pressure pulse. Most prominent is an increase of the auroral zone width and a decrease of the polar cap size when the solar wind dynamic pressure increases. An increase in total precipitating particle energy flux is also seen. Auroral UV observations are available for one of our events and are found to give results that are consistent with the results we have found from the precipitating particle observations.

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