Dayside Auroral Imaging at South Pole

University Of California-Berkeley, Berkeley CA

Investigators

Abstract

This proposal is to operate two ground-based imagers at South Pole station and combine their observations with simultaneous global auroral observations by the IMAGE spacecraft investigating temporal and spatial effects in the ionosphere from the reconnection processes at the magnetopause. The location of South Pole has advantages for auroral imaging because the continuous darkness over the winter months allows 24 hours optical observations and the ideal magnetic latitude permits observation of the dayside aurora. The reconnection (merging) region of the magnetosphere provides the most significant entry point for solar wind plasma. It is now widely accepted that the dayside region contains the footprint of field lines that participate in reconnection processes with the interplanetary field. Although there is quite a body of literature about the auroral footprints of the dayside reconnection region from ground based observations, it has not been possible to relate those results to simultaneous global auroral images. Global observations of proton auroras from the IMAGE spacecraft provided direct images of the footprint of the reconnection region showing that reconnection occurs continuously and that the spatial distribution of the precipitation follows the theoretically predicted behavior as a function of the interplanetary field. The apogee of the IMAGE spacecraft orbit is slowly drifting south and in the time frame of this project (austral winter of 2004), IMAGE apogee will be over the Southern hemisphere. Thus, it will be possible to obtain simultaneous global images of the aurora by IMAGE and of the high latitude dayside region by two ground-based imagers (electron and protons auroras) at South Pole Station. The main project goal is to capitalize on this unique opportunity and use the IMAGE satellite as the "telescope" and the ground-based imagers as the "microscope" for these observations. In summary, the proposed project will use new opportunities provided by IMAGE and the South Pole proton-electron data answering several key questions for better understanding of substorms and related phenomena. Understanding the Earth's electromagnetic environment is one of the key requirements to predict space weather and to understand how geoactive magnetic storms are. The project will continue the involvement of students in every phase of the program, which appears to be a good encouragement for some to start a career in upper atmospheric research.