Alfvénic Dynamics and Fine Structuring of Discrete Auroral Arcs: Swarm and e-POP Observations

D. M. Miles; I. R. Mann; I. P. Pakhotin; J. K. Burchill; A. D. Howarth; D. J. Knudsen; R. L. Lysak; D. D. Wallis; L. L. Cogger; A. W. Yau

doi:10.1002/2017GL076051

Alfvénic Dynamics and Fine Structuring of Discrete Auroral Arcs: Swarm and e-POP Observations

D. M. Miles, I. R. Mann, I. P. Pakhotin, J. K. Burchill, A. D. Howarth, D. J. Knudsen, R. L. Lysak, D. D. Wallis, L. L. Cogger, A. W. Yau

Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

30 Scopus citations

Abstract

The electrodynamics associated with dual discrete arc aurora with antiparallel flow along the arcs were observed nearly simultaneously by the enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (e-POP) and the Swarm A and C spacecraft. Auroral imaging from e-POP reveals 1–10 km structuring of the arcs, which move and evolve on second timescales and confound the traditional single-spacecraft field-aligned current algorithms. High-cadence magnetic data from e-POP show 1–10 Hz, inferred Alfvénic, perturbations coincident with and at the same scale size as the observed dynamic auroral fine structures. High-cadence electric and magnetic field data from Swarm A reveal nonstationary electrodynamics involving reflected and interfering Alfvén waves and modulation consistent with trapping in the ionospheric Alfvén resonator (IAR). These observations suggest a role for Alfvén waves, perhaps also the IAR, in discrete arc dynamics on 0.2–10 s timescales and ~1–10 km spatial scales and reinforce the importance of considering Alfvén waves in magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling.

Original language	English (US)
Pages (from-to)	545-555
Number of pages	11
Journal	Geophysical Research Letters
Volume	45
Issue number	2
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1002/2017GL076051
State	Published - Jan 28 2018
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Canadian Space Agency under grant CARISMA-MIC. D. M. Miles was sup ported by an NSERC PGSD graduate scholarship, funding from the Canadian Space Agency, and faculty startup funding from the University of Iowa. I. R. Mann is supported by a Discovery Grant from NSERC. I. P. Pakhotin was supported by the ESA STSE Swarm + Innovation grant 4000114090/15/NL/MP. A.W. Yau is supported by a Discovery Grant and a Discovery Accelerator Award from NSERC. This study makes use of data from the e-POP spacecraft mission, which is funded by the Canadian Space Agency. e-POP data can be accessed online at http://epop.phys.ucalgary.ca/ data.html. J. K. Burchill was supported by a grant from the Canadian Space Agency. This study makes use of data from the Swarm spacecraft mission, which is funded and managed by the European Space Agency. Swarm data can be accessed online at http://earth. esa.int/swarm. The auroral imaging movie provided as supporting informa tion MS1 was produced using the FAITools library version 2.2 available at http://epop.phys.ucalgary.ca/data.html. The International Reference Ionosphere model was instantiated using the online tool available at http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ionocond/sigcal/index.html.

Publisher Copyright:
©2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.

Keywords

Alfvén wave
Swarm
aurora
e-POP
field-aligned current
ionospheric Alfvén resonator

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title = "Alfv{\'e}nic Dynamics and Fine Structuring of Discrete Auroral Arcs: Swarm and e-POP Observations",

abstract = "The electrodynamics associated with dual discrete arc aurora with antiparallel flow along the arcs were observed nearly simultaneously by the enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (e-POP) and the Swarm A and C spacecraft. Auroral imaging from e-POP reveals 1–10 km structuring of the arcs, which move and evolve on second timescales and confound the traditional single-spacecraft field-aligned current algorithms. High-cadence magnetic data from e-POP show 1–10 Hz, inferred Alfv{\'e}nic, perturbations coincident with and at the same scale size as the observed dynamic auroral fine structures. High-cadence electric and magnetic field data from Swarm A reveal nonstationary electrodynamics involving reflected and interfering Alfv{\'e}n waves and modulation consistent with trapping in the ionospheric Alfv{\'e}n resonator (IAR). These observations suggest a role for Alfv{\'e}n waves, perhaps also the IAR, in discrete arc dynamics on 0.2–10 s timescales and ~1–10 km spatial scales and reinforce the importance of considering Alfv{\'e}n waves in magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling.",

keywords = "Alfv{\'e}n wave, Swarm, aurora, e-POP, field-aligned current, ionospheric Alfv{\'e}n resonator",

author = "Miles, {D. M.} and Mann, {I. R.} and Pakhotin, {I. P.} and Burchill, {J. K.} and Howarth, {A. D.} and Knudsen, {D. J.} and Lysak, {R. L.} and Wallis, {D. D.} and Cogger, {L. L.} and Yau, {A. W.}",

note = "Funding Information: This work was supported by the Canadian Space Agency under grant CARISMA-MIC. D. M. Miles was sup ported by an NSERC PGSD graduate scholarship, funding from the Canadian Space Agency, and faculty startup funding from the University of Iowa. I. R. Mann is supported by a Discovery Grant from NSERC. I. P. Pakhotin was supported by the ESA STSE Swarm + Innovation grant 4000114090/15/NL/MP. A.W. Yau is supported by a Discovery Grant and a Discovery Accelerator Award from NSERC. This study makes use of data from the e-POP spacecraft mission, which is funded by the Canadian Space Agency. e-POP data can be accessed online at http://epop.phys.ucalgary.ca/ data.html. J. K. Burchill was supported by a grant from the Canadian Space Agency. This study makes use of data from the Swarm spacecraft mission, which is funded and managed by the European Space Agency. Swarm data can be accessed online at http://earth. esa.int/swarm. The auroral imaging movie provided as supporting informa tion MS1 was produced using the FAITools library version 2.2 available at http://epop.phys.ucalgary.ca/data.html. The International Reference Ionosphere model was instantiated using the online tool available at http://wdc.kugi.kyoto-u.ac.jp/ionocond/sigcal/index.html. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright}2018. American Geophysical Union. All Rights Reserved.",

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AU - Burchill, J. K.

AU - Howarth, A. D.

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N2 - The electrodynamics associated with dual discrete arc aurora with antiparallel flow along the arcs were observed nearly simultaneously by the enhanced Polar Outflow Probe (e-POP) and the Swarm A and C spacecraft. Auroral imaging from e-POP reveals 1–10 km structuring of the arcs, which move and evolve on second timescales and confound the traditional single-spacecraft field-aligned current algorithms. High-cadence magnetic data from e-POP show 1–10 Hz, inferred Alfvénic, perturbations coincident with and at the same scale size as the observed dynamic auroral fine structures. High-cadence electric and magnetic field data from Swarm A reveal nonstationary electrodynamics involving reflected and interfering Alfvén waves and modulation consistent with trapping in the ionospheric Alfvén resonator (IAR). These observations suggest a role for Alfvén waves, perhaps also the IAR, in discrete arc dynamics on 0.2–10 s timescales and ~1–10 km spatial scales and reinforce the importance of considering Alfvén waves in magnetosphere-ionosphere coupling.

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Alfvénic Dynamics and Fine Structuring of Discrete Auroral Arcs: Swarm and e-POP Observations

Abstract

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Keywords

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