Fine-scale electric fields and Joule heating from observations of the Aurora
Fine-scale electric fields and Joule heating from observations of the Aurora
Optical measurements from three selected wavelengths have been combined with modeling of emissions from an auroral event to estimate the magnitude and direction of small-scale electric fields on either side of an auroral arc. The temporal resolution of the estimates is 0.1 s, which is much higher resolution than measurements from Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) in the same region, with which we compare our estimates. Additionally, we have used the Scanning Doppler Imager instrument to measure the neutral wind during the event in order to calculate the height integrated Joule heating. Joule heating obtained from the small scale electric fields gives larger values (17 ± 11 and 6 ± 9 mWm
−2 on average on each side of the arc) than the Joule heating obtained from more conventionally used SuperDARN data (5 mWm
−2). This result is significant, because Joule heating will cause changes in the thermosphere from thermal expansion and thermal conductivity, and may also affect the acceleration of the neutral wind. Our result indicates that high spatial and temporal resolution electric fields may play an important role in the dynamics of the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system.
Krcelic, Patrik
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Fear, Robert
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Whiter, Daniel
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Lanchester, Betty
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Lester, Mark
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Aruliah, Anasuya
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Paxton, Larry
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February 2023
Krcelic, Patrik
64b03256-a7df-4fb1-921a-4c845bba617a
Fear, Robert
8755b9ed-c7dc-4cbb-ac9b-56235a0431ab
Whiter, Daniel
9a30d7b6-ea41-44fb-bd52-3ff1964eca5c
Lanchester, Betty
e864533e-eea0-471f-a3f9-7c70c25be55b
Lester, Mark
a6e8f6c8-5112-4837-8609-d8b9fe1f1692
Aruliah, Anasuya
e1795881-26ef-4fbb-b810-f700f3b7dded
Paxton, Larry
74fc06ff-6a71-4291-9fd0-33821ce5d27b
Krcelic, Patrik, Fear, Robert, Whiter, Daniel, Lanchester, Betty, Lester, Mark, Aruliah, Anasuya and Paxton, Larry
(2023)
Fine-scale electric fields and Joule heating from observations of the Aurora.
Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics, 128 (2), [e2022JA030628].
(doi:10.1029/2022JA030628).
Abstract
Optical measurements from three selected wavelengths have been combined with modeling of emissions from an auroral event to estimate the magnitude and direction of small-scale electric fields on either side of an auroral arc. The temporal resolution of the estimates is 0.1 s, which is much higher resolution than measurements from Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) in the same region, with which we compare our estimates. Additionally, we have used the Scanning Doppler Imager instrument to measure the neutral wind during the event in order to calculate the height integrated Joule heating. Joule heating obtained from the small scale electric fields gives larger values (17 ± 11 and 6 ± 9 mWm
−2 on average on each side of the arc) than the Joule heating obtained from more conventionally used SuperDARN data (5 mWm
−2). This result is significant, because Joule heating will cause changes in the thermosphere from thermal expansion and thermal conductivity, and may also affect the acceleration of the neutral wind. Our result indicates that high spatial and temporal resolution electric fields may play an important role in the dynamics of the magnetosphere-ionosphere-thermosphere system.
Text
JGR Space Physics - 2023 - Krcelic - Fine‐Scale Electric Fields and Joule Heating From Observations of the Aurora (1)
- Version of Record
More information
Accepted/In Press date: 23 December 2022
e-pub ahead of print date: 30 January 2023
Published date: February 2023
Additional Information:
Funding Information:
The ASK instrument has been funded by PPARC, STFC, and NERC of the UK and by the Swedish Research Council. The UCL SCANDI is maintained thanks to Dr. Ian McWhirter. SuperDARN is funded by national scientific funding agencies of Australia, Canada, China, France, Japan, South Africa, the UK and the USA. The SuperDARN convection modeling was performed using RST4.1 ( https://github.com/SuperDARN/rst ). PK was supported by NERC INSPIRE studentship NE/S007210/1. RCF was supported by STFC consolidated Grant ST/R000719/1. DKW was supported by NERC Independent Research Fellowship NE/S015167/1. ALA was supported by NERC Grants NE/N004051/1 and NE/W003112/1.
Publisher Copyright:
©2023. The Authors.
Identifiers
Local EPrints ID: 474347
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/474347
ISSN: 2169-9402
PURE UUID: 67a08eb5-7d90-4668-8fc8-ea7e5c19ec4b
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Date deposited: 20 Feb 2023 18:05
Last modified: 17 Mar 2024 03:35
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Contributors
Author:
Patrik Krcelic
Author:
Betty Lanchester
Author:
Mark Lester
Author:
Anasuya Aruliah
Author:
Larry Paxton
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