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Pulsating aurora, which consists of diffuse patches blinking on and off, is caused by pitch angle scattering of radiation belt electrons into the loss cone by lower-band chorus waves. Understanding the drivers of pulsating aurora is important as it is a long-lasting and widespread phenomenon, accounting for significant energy transfer from the solar wind into the ionosphere. Substorm injections, which transport electrons from the magnetotail into the inner magnetosphere, are one source of electrons in this region. Injections have been observed simultaneously with pulsating aurora during conjunctions between ground cameras and satellites. In addition, previous work has also shown that substorms can enhance chorus activity (the fundamental process that produces pulsating aurora), providing a mechanism linking substorms to pulsating aurora. To further study this connection, we used the Van Allen Probes and all-sky cameras to look at events where pulsating aurora and substorm injections were observed at different locations in Magnetic Local Time (MLT), rather than focusing only on conjunctions. To make this comparison, we calculated the drift rate of electrons originating from observed injections and projected their motion forward in time until their Magnetic Local Time was the same as the ground camera. When the electrons are located at the same MLT as the ground camera, the pulsating aurora they cause would most likely occur in the field of view of the camera. We compared the time drifting substorm-injected particles arrived at the MLT of the camera to when pulsating aurora was observed. We found several instances where the initiation or intensification of pulsating aurora was accompanied by the arrival of substorm-injected electrons. This observation gives further evidence that pulsating aurora can be enhanced by or occur after substorm injections.
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Correspondence of Pi2 Pulsations, Aurora Luminosity, and Plasma Flux Fluctuation Near a Substorm Brightening Aurora: Arase Observations
Abstract Although many substorm‐related observations have been made, we still have limited insight into propagation of the plasma and field perturbations in Pi2 frequencies (∼7–25 mHz) in association with substorm aurora, particularly from the auroral source region in the inner magnetosphere to the ground. In this study, we present conjugate observations of a substorm brightening aurora using an all‐sky camera and an inner‐magnetospheric satellite Arase atL ∼ 5. A camera at Gakona (62.39°N, 214.78°E), Alaska, observed a substorm auroral brightening on 28 December 2018, and the footprint of the satellite was located just equatorward of the aurora. Around the timing of the auroral brightening, the satellite observed a series of quasi‐periodic variations in the electric and magnetic fields and in the energy flux of electrons and ions. We demonstrate that the diamagnetic variations of thermal pressure and medium‐energy ion energy flux in the inner magnetosphere show approximately one‐to‐one correspondence with the oscillations in luminosity of the substorm brightening aurora and high‐latitudinal Pi2 pulsations on the ground. We also found their anti‐correlation with low‐energy electrons. Cavity‐type Pi2 pulsations were observed at mid‐ and low‐latitudinal stations. Based on these observations, we suggest that a wave phenomenon in the substorm auroral source region, like ballooning type instability, play an important role in the development of substorm and related auroral brightening and high‐latitude Pi2, and that the variation of the auroral luminosity was directly driven by keV electrons which were modulated by Alfven waves in the inner magnetosphere.
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- Award ID(s):
- 2054361
- PAR ID:
- 10486974
- Author(s) / Creator(s):
- ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more »
- Publisher / Repository:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics
- Volume:
- 128
- Issue:
- 10
- ISSN:
- 2169-9380
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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- Free Publicly Accessible Full Text
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Accepted Manuscript
- Journal Article:
- https://doi.org/10.1029/2023JA031648
