Observation of pulsating aurora signatures in cosmic noise absorption data

This study investigates the contribution of energetic (E > 30 keV) particle precipitation during a pulsating aurora event over Kilpisjärvi (L = 6.2) on 26 February 2014. It is based on the comparison of auroral blue‐line emission (427.8 nm) data from an all‐sky camera and cosmic noise absorption...

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Bibliographic Details
Published inGeophysical research letters Vol. 44; no. 11; pp. 5292 - 5300
Main Authors Grandin, M., Kero, A., Partamies, N., McKay, D., Whiter, D., Kozlovsky, A., Miyoshi, Y.
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Washington John Wiley & Sons, Inc 16.06.2017
Subjects
Absorption
Astrophysics
Atmospheric precipitations
Auroras
Beams (radiation)
Correlation
Correlation analysis
Cosmic noise
cosmic noise absorption
Data
Electron precipitation
Emission
Emissions
energetic electron precipitation
high‐latitude ionosphere
Imaging techniques
Modulation
Noise
optical data
Particle precipitation
pulsating aurora
riometer
Signatures
Sky
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Summary:This study investigates the contribution of energetic (E > 30 keV) particle precipitation during a pulsating aurora event over Kilpisjärvi (L = 6.2) on 26 February 2014. It is based on the comparison of auroral blue‐line emission (427.8 nm) data from an all‐sky camera and cosmic noise absorption (CNA) data obtained from a multibeam experiment of the Kilpisjärvi Atmospheric Imaging Receiver Array (KAIRA) riometer. The data sets are compared for three KAIRA beams close to magnetic zenith. Results show a clear correlation between the measured CNA and the auroral blue‐line emission during the event, for each beam. In addition, individual pulsations are observed for the first time in the cosmic noise absorption data measured by KAIRA and are found to be close‐to‐identical to the optical pulsations. This suggests that the modulation of electron precipitation during pulsating aurora takes place in a consistent way over a broad range of energies. Key Points Cosmic noise absorption and blue‐line auroral emission are strongly correlated during pulsating aurora event Individual pulsations can be detected in cosmic noise absorption data and are consistent with the optical pulsations Precipitation of both auroral and energetic electrons was simultaneously modulated during the studied pulsating aurora event
ISSN:0094-8276
1944-8007
DOI:10.1002/2017GL073901