Dispersive Alfven waves and Ion-acoustic Turbulence: M-I coupling at the Smallest Scales

Details Dispersive Alfven waves and Ion-acoustic Turbulence: M-I coupling at the Smallest Scales Dispersive Alfven waves and Ion-acoustic Turbulence: M-I coupling at the Smallest Scales

Dec 2010

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2010agufmsm33a1891s&link_type=abstract

American Geophysical Union, Fall Meeting 2010, abstract #SM33A-1891

Physics

[2407] Ionosphere / Auroral Ionosphere, [2704] Magnetospheric Physics / Auroral Phenomena, [2736] Magnetospheric Physics / Magnetosphere/Ionosphere Interactions, [2772] Magnetospheric Physics / Plasma Waves And Instabilities

Scientific paper

Auroral displays exhibit coherence across multiple scales, beginning with the global auroral oval and extending down to packets of discrete arcs of <100-m width related to dispersive Alfven waves. The latter have been found to be magnetically conjugate to regions of non-thermal backscatter from the ionospheric F-region recorded by incoherent scatter radar (ISR). The phenomenological relationship between auroral morphology and ISR spectral distortions has been well established, at least in a static sense, but the theory connecting these disparate observational domains is incomplete. It is argued that considerable insight into magnetosphere-ionosphere (M-I) coupling is obtained by understanding auroral physics at these elemental scales. The purpose of this paper is twofold: (1) to provide observational evidence that not all arc-related ISR distortions fit neatly into a single category (e.g., the “Naturally Enhanced Ion-Acoustic Line” or NEIAL), and (2) to provide a critical review of candidate theoretical models to simultaneously account for the time-dependent optical and radar measurements. Evidentiary support focuses on observations of a substorm onset on 23 March 2007 (11:20 UT) by a narrow-field video-rate camera and the electronically steerable Poker Flat ISR (PFISR). Examples of ISR spectra as a function of altitude. 1: thermal backscatter, 2 and 3: enhanced backscatter conjugate to discrete aurora.

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