Auroral and Ionospheric Dynamics in the Polar Cap

由于沉淀电子与空气分子的碰撞，以及由于电离层等离子体的重新组合而发出的光，极帽区域的上层大气以复杂的模式发光。高层大气在加热和电场的驱动下持续运动，能量通过与超音速太阳风的相互作用通过磁层进入。正在使用现代版本的所有天空相机来研究这些运动，这些相机以电子方式记录下特定波长下整个可观测天空的图像。然后，使用最新开发的计算机图像运动分析技术对这些图像集进行分析，以得出极光和气辉形式的速度。对这些速度的系统观测和分析将对理解电离层-磁层耦合具有深远的意义。首席调查员和他的同事是空间和地面大气排放成像领域的领导者。来自格陵兰岛Sondre-Stromfjord的观测结果将结合正在进行的雷达和光谱测量进行分析。

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.