Auroral and Ionospheric Dynamics in the Polar Cap

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The upper atmosphere in the polar cap region glows in complex patterns as a result of collisions of precipitating electrons with molecules of air, and as light is emitted by recombining ionospheric plasma. The upper atmosphere is continually in motion, being driven by heating and electric fields as energy comes in via the magnetosphere from its interaction with the supersonic solar wind. The motions are being studied by use of modern versions of all sky cameras, that electronically record images of the whole observable sky in specific wavelengths. Sets of such images are then analyzed by using newly developed techniques of computerized image motion analysis to derive the velocities of auroral and airglow forms. Systematic observation and analysis of these velocities will have far reaching implications in the understanding of ionosphere- magnetosphere coupling. The principal investigator and his associates are leaders in the field of imaging atmospheric emissions from space and from the ground. The observations from Sondre-Stromfjord, Greenland, will be analyzed in conjunction with ongoing radar and spectrographic measurements.