Bibliography

Bayesian approach for auroral oval reconstruction from ground-based observations

Naked eye observations of aurorae might be used to obtain information on the large-scale magnetic field of the Earth at historic times. Their abundance may also help bridge gaps in observational time-series of proxies for solar activity such as the sunspot number or cosmogenic isotopes. With information derived from aurora observations like observing site, time of aurora sighting and position on the sky we can reconstruct the auroral oval. Since aurorae are correlated with geomagnetic indices like the Kp index, it is possible to obtain information about the terrestrial magnetic field in the form of the position of the magnetic poles as well as the magnetic disturbance level. Here we present a Bayesian approach to reconstruct the auroral oval from ground-based observations by using two different auroral oval models. With this method we can estimate the position of the magnetic poles in corrected geomagnetic coordinates as well as the Kp index. The method is first validated on synthetic observations before it is applied to four modern geomagnetic storms between 2003 and 2017 where ground-based reports and photographs were used to obtain the necessary information. Based on the four modern geomagnetic storms we have shown, that we are able to reconstruct the pole location with an average accuracy of ≈2° in latitude and ≈11° in longitude. The Kp index can be inferred with a precision of one class. The future goal is to employ the method to historical storms, where we expect somewhat higher uncertainties, since observations may be less accurate or not favorably distributed.

Wagner, D.; Neuhäuser, R.; Arlt, R.;

Published by: Journal of Atmospheric and Solar-Terrestrial Physics      Published on: feb

YEAR: 2022     DOI: 10.1016/j.jastp.2022.105824

auroral oval; Magnetic storms; space weather

Statistical Analysis of Throat Aurora Using Long Term DMSP/SSUSI Observation

Throat aurora is believed to be associated with magnetopause indentations and has direct implications on magnetopause reconnection. In this study, for the first time, we use Defense Meteorological Satellite Program/Special Sensor Ultraviolet Spectrographic Imager observations over ∼14 years to characterize the throat aurora occurrence, latitudinal extent, seasonal, and its solar cycle dependence. We identified 386 throat aurora cases during the different passes of the satellite over the northern hemisphere. The latitudinal extent of these throat aurorae are estimated and are divided into small, medium, and large categories. The small and medium latitudinal extent throat aurorae account for about 91\% of the total cases. The throat aurorae are found to occur most frequently in the post-noon hours. The throat aurorae were also observed more frequently during winter, likely due to summer-winter asymmetry in the ionospheric conductance. The occurrence of the throat aurora is also found to be anti-correlated with the solar cycle, likely because low solar activity gives good chances for sporadic reconnection that favors the occurrence of throat aurora. The dependence on interplanetary magnetic field reveals positive Bx favoring the occurrence of throat aurora. It also shows positive Bx (negative By) supports pre-noon (post-noon) occurrence. The difference in the trend and average values of background interplanetary magnetic field conditions with the throat aurora confirms the favorable conditions for the occurrence of throat aurora.

Selvakumaran, R.; Han, De-Sheng; Gokani, Sneha; Zhang, Y.;

Published by: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics      Published on:

YEAR: 2021     DOI: 10.1029/2021JA029164

auroral oval; magnetopause indentations; throat aurora

Average field-aligned current configuration parameterised by solar wind conditions

We present the first large-scale comparison of the spatial distribution of field-aligned currents as measured by the Active Magnetosphere and Planetary Electrodynamics Response Experiment, with the location and brightness of the average auroral oval, determined from the Imager for Magnetopause-to-Aurora Global Exploration far ultraviolet instrument. These distributions are compared under the same interplanetary magnetic field magnitude and clock angle conditions. The field-aligned currents and auroral oval drop to lower latitudes, as the interplanetary magnetic field becomes both increasingly stronger in magnitude and increasingly southward. We find that the region 2 currents are more closely aligned with the distribution of auroral UV emission, whether that be in the discrete auroral zone about dusk or in the postmidnight diffuse aurora sector. The lack of coincidence between the region 1 field-aligned currents with the auroral oval in the dusk sector is contrary to expectation.

Carter, J.; Milan, S.; Coxon, J.; Walach, M.-T.; Anderson, B.;

Published by: Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics      Published on: 01/2016

YEAR: 2016     DOI: 10.1002/2015JA021567

auroral oval; field-aligned currents