Investigation of quasi-periodic fluctuations in auroral phenomena using EISCAT radar and Cluster satellite data

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The coupling between the magnetosphere and ionosphere is mediated through magnetic field changes and their associated currents. In spite of several decades of research, important parts of this process are still not understood. An impressive sign of this coupling is the visible aurora and its variations on timescales from seconds to many minutes. With the help of the recently modernised EISCAT (European Incoherent SCATter Scientific Association) radars in north Scandinavia and Svalbard, which can measure electron density, electron temperature, ion temperature and ion drift velocity with high time and spatial resolution, various periodicities during auroral activity will be closely studied to see whether they can be explained by field-line resonances or some other theory. Magnetic and electric field fluctuation data from the Cluster satellite mission and other satellites as well as from the ground-based IMAGE magnetometer chain and other ground-based facilities will be an important part of this study. The effect of energy input to the upper atmosphere from the auroral and polar cap phenomena studied here should provide valuable input to the other projects of the bundle proposal, in particular to the proposals of Lühr, Jakowski, Jacobi and Kallenrode.