Mirror instability and the origin of morningside auroral structure

Details Mirror instability and the origin of morningside auroral structure Mirror instability and the origin of morningside auroral structure

May 1983

adsabs.harvard.edu/cgi-bin/nph-data_query?bibcode=1983jgr....88.4041c&link_type=abstract

Journal of Geophysical Research (ISSN 0148-0227), vol. 88, May 1, 1983, p. 4041-4054.

Physics

18

Auroral Arcs, Electron Energy, Magnetic Mirrors, Magnetohydrodynamic Stability, Particle Interactions, Plasma Diagnostics, Convection Currents, Plasma Density, Satellite Observation, Time Dependence

Scientific paper

Auroral optical imagery shows marked differences between auroral features of the evening and morning sectors: The separation between diffuse and discrete auroras in the evening sector is not distinct in the morning sector, which is dominated by auroral patches and multiple banded structures aligned along some direction. Plasma distribution function signatures also show marked differences: downward electron beams and inverted-V signatures prefer the evening sector, while the electron spectra on the morning sector are similar to the diffuse aurora. We have constructed a theory of morningside auroras consistent with these features. The theory is based on modulation of the growth rates of electron cyclotron waves by the mirror instability, which is in turn driven by inward-convected ions that have become anisotropic. This modulation produces alternating bands of enhanced and reduced electron precipitation which approximate the observed multiple auroral bands and patches of the morning sector.

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