Premium
Direct comparison of pulsating aurora observed simultaneously by the FAST satellite and from the ground at Syowa
Author(s) -
Sato N.,
Wright D. M.,
Ebihara Y.,
Sato M.,
Murata Y.,
Doi H.,
Saemundsson T.,
Milan S. E.,
Lester M.,
Carlson C. W.
Publication year - 2002
Publication title -
geophysical research letters
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.007
H-Index - 273
eISSN - 1944-8007
pISSN - 0094-8276
DOI - 10.1029/2002gl015615
Subject(s) - electron precipitation , physics , satellite , flux (metallurgy) , electron , ionosphere , oscillation (cell signaling) , energy flux , modulation (music) , electric field , atmospheric sciences , geophysics , plasma , magnetosphere , astronomy , materials science , chemistry , biochemistry , quantum mechanics , acoustics , metallurgy
We have made a direct comparison of a pulsating aurora observed simultaneously from the ground at Syowa in Antarctica and onboard the FAST satellite (∼3100 km altitude). The auroral form appeared as east‐west‐aligned bands consisting of two different types: a poleward moving pulsation and a standing mode pulsation, each with a period of ∼5 sec. The aurora occurs within the region of an inverted‐V structure of lower energy (0.1–1 keV) electron precipitation. The two different types of pulsating aurora are separated in space by a narrow gap in the inverted‐V potential structure. Spatial and temporal variations of the down‐going high‐energy (>5 keV) electron flux show a one‐to‐one correspondence with the optical pulsating aurora. The down‐going high‐energy (1–10 keV) ion flux modulation is out of phase (anti‐correlated) with the high‐energy electron flux modulation. These features suggest that the precipitating high‐energy electrons, which produce the pulsating aurora, are modulated by the oscillation of the field‐aligned electric field located above FAST.