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AGU: Journal of Geophysical Research, Space Physics

 

Keywords

  • cusp aurora

Index Terms

  • Magnetospheric Physics: Magnetopause and boundary layers
  • Magnetospheric Physics: Auroral phenomena
  • Magnetospheric Physics: Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions
Abstract
Cited By (4)
 

Abstract

Far-ultraviolet signature of polar cusp during southward IMF Bz observed by TIMED/Global Ultraviolet Imager and DMSP

Y. Zhang

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA

C.-I. Meng

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA

L. J. Paxton

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA

D. Morrison

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA

B. Wolven

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA

H. Kil

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA

P. Newell

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA

S. Wing

Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, USA

A. B. Christensen

Aerospace Corporation, Los Angeles, California, USA

The coincident TIMED/Global Ultraviolet Imager (TIMED/GUVI) optical and DMSP particle observations have revealed new features of the optical signature of the polar cusp under a southward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF). We have found that cusp auroras usually take the shape of a thin arc with a width around 100–200 km. This provides the first far-ultraviolet evidence of the narrow cusp under a southward IMF [ Newell and Meng, 1987 ]. The cusp auroras could extend down to 0800 magnetic local time (MLT) in the morningside and 1400 MLT in the duskside. Its length is about a few thousand kilometers. A large solar wind density, speed, and IMF are necessary conditions for GUVI to observe the cusp aurora. We found that the cusp location at 1200 MLT changes linearly (−10 nT B z < 0 nT) and nonlinearly (B z < −10 nT) with the IMF B z . The nonlinear effect can be explained by an L −3 dependence of the Earth's equatorial magnetic field.

Received 28 July 2004; accepted 16 November 2004; published 28 January 2005.

Citation: Zhang, Y., C.-I. Meng, L. J. Paxton, D. Morrison, B. Wolven, H. Kil, P. Newell, S. Wing, and A. B. Christensen (2005), Far-ultraviolet signature of polar cusp during southward IMF Bz observed by TIMED/Global Ultraviolet Imager and DMSP, J. Geophys. Res., 110, A01218, doi:10.1029/2004JA010707.

Cited By

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