UV Microbursts in the Auroral Zone Measured by a Multichannel Imaging Photometer

• Published in: Cosmic research Vol. 62; no. 4; pp. 311 - 317
• Main Authors: Shchelkanov, K. D., Belov, A. A., Klimov, P. A., Nikolaeva, V. D., Saraev, R. E., Sharakin, S. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Moscow Pleiades Publishing 2024; Springer Nature B.V
• Subjects: Astronomy; Astrophysics and Astroparticles; Astrophysics and Cosmology; Auroral zone; Auroral zones; Auroras; Bursts; Imaging; Intervals; Microbursts; Photometers; Physics; Physics and Astronomy; Space Exploration and Astronautics; Space Sciences (including Extraterrestrial Physics; Temporal resolution; Ultraviolet radiation; aurora; wide field of view photometer; UV microbursts
• ISSN: 0010-9525; 1608-3075
• DOI: 10.1134/S0010952524600367

In the autumn of 2021, a multichannel imaging photometer of the Pulsating Aurora Imaging Photometer System was installed at the Verkhnetulomsky Observatory. During the first season of operation (2021/2022), measurements were made over the course of 163 nights in three modes of temporal resolution: 2.5 μs, 320 μs, and 41 ms. The high temporal resolution makes it possible to investigate the fine temporal structure of the emission, which are short (less than 1 s) bursts of UV radiation, so-called “microbursts” that can be single or follow in series. The long-term series of microbursts registered on November 27–29, 2021, were analyzed. It is shown that the series of bursts have a complex temporal structure, individual bursts have several peaks with intervals of 100–400 ms, the intervals between bursts are of the order of 1 s, and they appear in packs lasting from several seconds to minutes. The series appear both in quiet geomagnetic conditions and during substorms; the frequency and amplitude of bursts in the second case are significantly larger.