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A dayside auroral energy deposition case study using the Polar Ultraviolet Imager
Author(s) -
Brittnacher M.,
Elsen R.,
Parks G.,
Chen L.,
Germany G.,
Spann J.
Publication year - 1997
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 - 10.1029/97gl00257
Subject(s) - magnetosphere , physics , polar , interplanetary magnetic field , solar wind , spacecraft , astrophysics , interplanetary spaceflight , atmospheric sciences , plasma , astronomy , quantum mechanics
In this letter, we report preliminary results from a study of dayside auroral energy deposition during quiet times using global auroral images acquired by the Ultraviolet Imager experiment on the Polar spacecraft. Solar wind plasma and interplanetary magnetic field measurements from the Wind spacecraft and Kp values were used to characterize the state of the magnetosphere. The auroral oval was observed for a two‐hour period in spring and summer during relatively quiet times (K P ≃ 0 to 1). We find that, although the nightside energy deposition rate varied by an order of magnitude to as low as 1 × 10 16 erg s −1 (1 gigawatt), the dayside was much less variable and remained between 4 and 10 × 10 16 erg s −1 .