THIS PROPOSAL INVESTIGATES THE ROLE OF POYNTING FLUX FLOWING IN THE VICINITY OF THE EARTH S PLASMA SHEET AND ITS BOUNDARY LAYER IN COUPLING TO DIFFERENT KINDS OF AURORAL STRUCTURES AND DRIVING THEIR DYNAMICS. AURORAL MEASUREMENTS FROM THE CANADIAN AURORAL ARRAY WILL BE COMPARED TO THE POYNTING FLUX DERIVED FROM THE ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS MEASURED BY THE VAN ALLAN PROBES (RBSP). THE PROPOSAL WILL PROVIDE INFORMATION ON AURORAL STRUCTURES NEAR THE MAGNETIC FOOTPRINT OF THE SPACECRAFT ON VARIOUS TIME SCALES AND DURING DIFFERENT SUBSTORM PHASES. THE AURORAL STRUCTURES SEEN IN CONJUNCTION WITH RBSP INCLUDE AURORAL STREAMERS AND QUIET ARCS THAT EVOLVE SLOWLY BEFORE SUBSTORM ONSETS ONSET ARCS AND THE ASSOCIATED WAVELIKE STRUCTURES AROUND THE ONSET TRANSIENT DISCRETE ARCS AND PULSATING AURORA DURING THE RECOVERY PHASE. IN ADDITION THE POYNTING FLUX AND ITS SPECTRAL PROPERTIES WILL BE ANALYZED FOR EACH OF THE AFOREMENTIONED AURORAL FORMS. THE ASSOCIATED AURORAL MOTIONS WILL BE ASSESSED AND COMPARED TO IN-SITU MEASUREMENTS OF EXB DRIFT OF THE PLASMA AND WAVES INCLUDING DIPOLARIZATION EVENTS AND STRUCTURES THAT APPEAR AS FAST MODES OR SLOW MODES. OUR PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS OF POYNTING FLUXES IN CONJUNCTION WITH DISCRETE ARCS AND AURORAL STREAMERS HAS SHOWN PROMISING RESULTS. BOTH AURORAL FORMS COINCIDE WITH SIGNIFICANT EARTHWARD POYNTING FLUX. THE POYNTING FLUX ASSOCIATED WITH THE DISCRETE ARC IS MORE THAN 300 MW/M^2 WHEN MAPPED TO THE IONOSPHERE. THIS VALUE IS AMONG THE EXTREME VALUES OF ENERGY FLOWS IN THE NEAR-EARTH S MAGNETOSPHERE. THE POYNTING FLUX IS PRIMARILY CARRIED BY ALFVEN WAVES AROUND 5 MHZ WHERE THE E/B RATIO IS COMPARABLE TO THE LOCAL ALFVEN SPEED. ON THE OTHER HAND THE POYNTING FLUX ASSOCIATED WITH THE STREAMER IS AN ORDER OF MAGNITUDE SMALLER BUT STILL SIGNIFICANT BEING 20 MW/M2 WHEN MAPPED TO THE IONOSPHERE. THE POYNTING FLUX IS PRIMARILY TRANSMITTED AROUND 1 MHZ WHERE THE E/B RATIO IS CONSISTENT WITH THE PEDERSEN CONDUCTIVITY THUS SUGGESTING THE POYNTING FLUX IS COUPLED TO THE IONOSPHERE AND DISSIPATED THROUGH JOULE HEATING. THE ABOVE COMPARISONS ARE AMONG THE FIRST EVER STUDIES THAT CAN RESOLVE DETAILED AURORAL STRUCTURES (<50 KM) WHILE IN CONJUNCTION WITH IN-SITU POYNTING FLUX MEASUREMENTS IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE. THE COMPARISONS SHOW FOR THE FIRST TIME IMPORTANT QUALITATIVE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN HOW DIFFERENT AURORAL STRUCTURES ARE COUPLED TO PLASMA PROCESSES IN THE INNER MAGNETOSPHERE. WE PROPOSE TO EXTEND THE PRELIMINARY STUDY TO A LARGER DATASET. THE PROPOSED STUDY WOULD PROVIDE A SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT TO OUR UNDERSTANDING OF THE ENERGY SOURCE POWERING MAJOR AURORAL STRUCTURES WHICH IS LARGELY UNKNOWN DUE TO THE INABILITY TO RESOLVE THESE STRUCTURES ON PREVIOUS AURORAL IMAGERS. THEMIS WHICH IS ALSO FOUND IN CONJUNCTION WITH THE CANADIAN ARRAY COULD NOT ROUTINELY PROVIDE RELIABLE POYNTING FLUX ESTIMATIONS DUE TO ITS SPIN AXIS ORIENTATION RELATIVE TO THE BACKGROUND MAGNETIC FIELD. WE HAVE ALSO PERFORMED PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS ON COMPARING THE EASTWARD/WESTWARD MOTION OF DISCRETE ARCS WITH THE AZIMUTHAL PROPAGATION OF DIPOLARIZATION STRUCTURES AS IDENTIFIED FROM INTER-RBSP TIMING. WE FOUND THAT THE MOTIONS OF THE AURORA AND DIPOLARIZATION ARE CONSISTENT IN DIRECTION AND MATCH IN SPEED. AURORAL STRUCTURES ARE KNOWN TO MOVE BUT IT IS UNCLEAR WHY THEY MOVE WITHIN CERTAIN SPEED RANGE AND HOW THEIR MOTIONS ARE RELATED TO PHENOMENA IN THE MAGNETOSPHERE. AS A SECOND GOAL OF THE PROPOSAL WE WILL STUDY EVENTS WHEN THE MOTION OF AURORAL STRUCTURES IS WELL DETERMINED AND EXPLORE WHETHER AND HOW THE AURORAL MOTION IS COUPLED TO IN-SITU PLASMA MOTIONS AND WAVE PROPAGATIONS.