R. Elphinstone and J. S. Murphree (University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada)
J. Ducarteron and J. P. Treilhou (C. E. S. R., Toulouse, France)
23:36 UT
Xray flux
![[X-ray image]](i3600.gif)
(animated GIF file, 276 k)
| Substorms Observed by Balloonborne Instruments, Geostationary Particle Detectors, and the VIKING UV Imager: Pulsating Aurora | ||
| T. Freeman, M. McCarthy,
G. Parks, and S. Werden (Geophysics Program, AK50, University of Washington,
Seattle, WA 98195)
R. Elphinstone and J. S. Murphree (University of Calgary, Calgary, Alberta, Canada) J. Ducarteron and J. P. Treilhou (C. E. S. R., Toulouse, France) |
||
| Precipitation that accompanied the northward expansion of a substorm that occurred on July 26, 1986 included 515 second pulsations. This pulsation event was observed by a balloonborne Xray camera, magnetometer, and the VIKING UV imager. Both the UV and Xray imager showed eastward drifting patches, which are characteristic of pulsating auroras. The UV patches had dimensions of ~40 x 200 km, and their apparent drift speed was a few hundred meters/s. The Xray camera further showed that precipitation with dimensions ~1520 km also occurred. This dimension is similar to the projected dimensions of the plasma sheet boundary layers in the ionosphere. The Xray pulsations are associated with the softer component of a two component precipitation energy spectrum. This pulsating aurora included patches that appeared and disappeared on time scales of minutes, within which faster pulsations (1015 seconds) occurred. A movie of this Xray event will be shown. |
23:36 UT
(animated GIF file, 276 k) |
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