Other
Scientific paper
May 2001
adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=2001agusm..sa31a19s&link_type=abstract
American Geophysical Union, Spring Meeting 2001, abstract #SA31A-19
Other
2403 Active Experiments, 2407 Auroral Ionosphere (2704), 2427 Ionosphere/Atmosphere Interactions (0335), 2443 Midlatitude Ionosphere, 2451 Particle Acceleration
Scientific paper
We present the first dedicated measurements of Artificial Aurora (AA), a phenomena often observed during rocket-borne TMA releases [cf., Gelinas, et al., 2001]. Previously, only a few images of the Artificial Aurora have been documented and these were obtained using instruments designed and dedicated to tracking TMA trails and their motion. Our observations were made in conjunction with a nighttime E-region study known as the Turbulent Oxygen Mixing EXperiment (TOMEX) that was flown from White Sands Missile Range on Oct. 26, 2000. NRL provided three cameras and a spectrograph solely for observing the AA. The instruments were located at a site almost directly under apogee and all operated successfully during the mission. We will primarily present results from two of these instruments. First, a LLLTV (Low-Light Level Television) camera captured extremely detailed video-rate images of the Artificial Aurora. These video images show significantly more of the structure, dynamics and phenomenology of the Artificial Aurora than previous 'still' images. The aurora appears near 115 km altitude, projected down along the magnetic field line that the rocket is crossing. The LLLTV images show that the aurora becomes visible as the rocket passes through 135 km altitude on the upleg of the trajectory. Second, a compact-grating spectrograph was mated with another LLLTV to attempt to measure the optical spectrum of the AA emissions. The spectrograph was capable of monitoring airglow from about 330nm (limited by atmospheric Blue/NUV scattering and absorption) up to 760 nm. Clear spectra were obtained for the TMA trails, the 're-entry bag' (a bright TMA related emission that occurs as the rocket nears 100 km) and a portion of the AA after the re-entry bag and the AA merged-and-brightened. Preliminary processing of spectra when pointed only at the Artificial Aurora show an increase in the detected emission, but with a low S/N level. Further processing is necessary to extract useful information from the data. From these two sets of optical data, we have greatly increased our understanding of the phenomenology of the Artificial Aurora. We will discuss both of the new data sets and outline how new and developing theories for the generation of the AA are affected by the results. Gelinas, L. J., M. C. Kelley, C. Sia, and M. F. Larsen, Auroral emission generated by a TMA release, JGR, in press 2001. *The work at NRL was supported by the Office of Naval Research
Bernhardt Paul A.
Gelinas Lynette Jean
Hecht James H.
Kelley Michael C.
Larsen Mark F.
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