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AGU: Geophysical Research Letters

 

Keywords

  • polar rain
  • aurora
  • keV electrons

Index Terms

  • Magnetospheric Physics: Auroral phenomena
  • Magnetospheric Physics: Polar cap phenomena
  • Magnetospheric Physics: Solar wind/magnetosphere interactions
  • Ionosphere: Particle precipitation
  • Atmospheric Composition and Structure: Airglow and aurora

Abstract

Polar rain aurora

Yongliang Zhang

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

Larry J. Paxton

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

Anthony T. Y. Lui

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

Global FUV auroral imagers (IMAGE/SI-13 and DMSP/SSUSI) observed, for the first time, two similar auroral events in the southern polar cap due to intense (keV) polar rain electrons from the solar wind as observed by DMSP and Geotail. Such an aurora is called polar rain aurora. The polar rain aurora could fill the dayside polar cap initially and developed a dawn-dusk alignment while they moved anti-sunward. The associated IMF Bz was mostly southward. The IMF Bx changed from negative to positive for the first event and stayed positive for the second event. The strong IMF By was associated with the two events. The dawn-dusk alignment of polar rain aurora might be due to the dawn-dusk aligned magnetic flux tubes in the magnetosheath caused by the dominant IMF By and modulation of the keV electrons by the nonoscillatory drift mirror waves and pitch angle diffusion via the electron cyclotron instability.

Received 7 August 2007; accepted 4 October 2007; published 31 October 2007.

Citation: Zhang, Y., L. J. Paxton, and A. T. Y. Lui (2007), Polar rain aurora, Geophys. Res. Lett., 34, L20114, doi:10.1029/2007GL031602.

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