Coordinated radar and optical measurements of stable auroral arcs at the polar cap boundary

Details Coordinated radar and optical measurements of stable auroral arcs at the polar cap boundary Coordinated radar and optical measurements of stable auroral arcs at the polar cap boundary

Oct 1991

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1991jgr....9617847w&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 96, Oct. 1, 1991, p. 17,847-17,863.

Physics

16

Auroral Arcs, Optical Measurement, Polar Caps, Radar Measurement, Aeronomy, Incoherent Scatter Radar, Plasma Currents, Space Plasmas, Thermal Plasmas

Scientific paper

A specialized incoherent scatter radar scanning mode has been developed for use in conjunction with simultaneous real-time all-sky images. These complementary diagnostics are used to examine the aeronomy and electrodynamics of stable auroral arcs that delineate the boundary between the polar cap and the auroral oval. The first arc discussed, observed at 2000 MLT, represents the boundary between antisunward plasma flow in the polar cap and sunward return flow equatorward of the arc. The arc defined an equipotential in the high-latitude convection pattern in that no plasma flowed across the arc. The radar line-of-sight velocity measurements also indicate that this arc is consistent with a convergent electric field and an associated weak upward field-aligned current. The second arc was observed at 2330 MLT and was associated with a nightside gap or magnetic reconnection region. Strong antisunward flow was observed directly across the arc, although a velocity shear was superposed on this steady flow along the poleward edge of the arc. Detailed plasma density, temperature, and line-of-sight velocity measurements from the radar are presented for both arcs to define the electric field, horizontal and field-aligned currents, and thermal plasma parameters associated with these arcs.

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