A Cusp Density Enhancement Study using Ground-Based Auroral Imagers

Details A Cusp Density Enhancement Study using Ground-Based Auroral Imagers A Cusp Density Enhancement Study using Ground-Based Auroral Imagers

Dec 2011

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2011agufmsm42a..06s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2011, abstract #SM42A-06

Physics

[2407] Ionosphere / Auroral Ionosphere, [2475] Ionosphere / Polar Cap Ionosphere, [2706] Magnetospheric Physics / Cusp, [2776] Magnetospheric Physics / Polar Cap Phenomena

Scientific paper

CHAMP satellite observations have confirmed neutral density enhancements which are localized to the high latitude polar cusp region. These small-scale density structures are consistently correlated with strong fine-scale field-aligned currents and are often associated with soft electron precipitation similar to that which drives night-side aurora ("auroral precipitation"). A possible driver of the CHAMP observed density enhancements is auroral precipitation which, through processes associated with ion-outflow, results in a density enhancement in the cusp vicinity at the altitudes observed by CHAMP. This mechanism is believed to require a "cooking time" of 10 to 30 minutes before the density enhancement achieves steady state. We investigate this mechanism and associated cooking time issue with ground-based auroral observations and an auroral precipitation numerical model. Using all-sky imager data, auroral intensity is monitored at the location where CHAMP passes through a cusp density enhancement. Auroral intensity is used as an indicator of heating from electron precipitation in the region and subsequent neutral density enhancement. The cooking time issues is explored by examining the brightness profile prior to CHAMP's observation of the density enhancement. Additional information about precipitation is provided by a numerical model which estimates electron energy flux from auroral brightness.

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