Spectral characteristics of two types of low latitude aurorae

Tinsley, Brian A.; Rohrbaugh, R. P.; Rassoul, H. K.; Barker, E. S.; Cochran, A. L.; Cochran, William D.; Wills, Beverley J.; Wills, D. W.; Slater, D. W.

doi:10.1029/gl011i006p00572

Cited by 44 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…It is known from modern observations that low-latitude aurorae are predominantly "red" in colour because they are typically characterised by: (i) N + 2 1N (427.8 nm) emission at high vibrational levels and (ii) a high (>10) ratio of red (630.0 nm) to green (557.7 nm) atomic oxygen lines. An aurora of the second type sometimes produces intense visible emissions, which result in a spectacular red aurora in the night sky (Tinsley et al, 1984;Davis, 1992;Shiokawa et al, 2005). Other historical auroral records from East Asia are slightly more ambiguous.…”

Section: Reliability Of the East Asian Auroral Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sporadic aurorae observed in East Asia

Willis

Stephenson

Fang³

2007

Ann. Geophys.

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Abstract. All the accessible auroral observations recorded in Chinese and Japanese histories during the interval AD 1840-1911 are investigated in detail. Most of these auroral records have never been translated into a Western language before. The East Asian auroral reports provide information on the date and approximate location of each auroral observation, together with limited scientific information on the characteristics of the auroral luminosity such as colour, duration, extent, position in the sky and approximate time of occurrence. The full translations of the original Chinese and Japanese auroral records are presented in an appendix, which contains bibliographic details of the various historical sources. (There are no known reliable Korean observations during this interval.) A second appendix discusses a few implausible "auroral" records, which have been rejected. The salient scientific properties of all exactly dated and reliable East Asian auroral observations in the interval AD 1840-1911 are summarised succinctly. By comparing the relevant scientific information on exactly dated auroral observations with the lists of great geomagnetic storms compiled by the Royal Greenwich Observatory, and also the tabulated values of the Ak (Helsinki) and aa (Greenwich and Melbourne) magnetic indices, it is found that 5 of the great geomagnetic storms (aa>150 or Ak>50) during either the second half of the nineteenth century or the first decade of the twentieth century are clearly identified by extensive auroral displays observed in China or Japan. Indeed, two of these great storms produced auroral displays observed in both countries on the same night. Conversely, at least 29 (69%) of the 42 Chinese and Japanese auroral observations occurred at times of weak-to-moderate geomagnetic activity (aa or Ak≤50). It is shown that these latter auroral displays are very similar to the more numerous (about 50) examples of sporadic aurorae observed in the United States during the interval AD 1880-1940. The loCorrespondence to: D. M. Willis (d.m.willis@rl.ac.uk) calised nature and spatial structure of some sporadic aurorae observed in East Asia is indicated by the use of descriptive terms such as "lightning", "rainbow", "streak" and "grid".

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Section: Reliability Of the East Asian Auroral Observationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Sporadic aurorae observed in East Asia

Willis

Stephenson

Fang³

2007

Ann. Geophys.

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“…rower field of view, while the photometer No. 3 is built to measure weak emissions caused by energetic heavy particle precipitation during magnetic storms (e.g., Tinsley et al, 1984Tinsley et al, , 1986. shutter is also controlled by the computer with a fail-safe system using the CdS optical sensor.…”

Section: Tilting Photometersmentioning

confidence: 99%

Development of Optical Mesosphere Thermosphere Imagers (OMTI)

et al. 2014

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The Optical Mesosphere Thermosphere Imagers (OMTI) have been developed to investigate the dynamics of the upper atmosphere through nocturnal airglow emissions. The OMTI consist of an imaging Fabry-Perot interferometer, three all-sky cooled-CCD cameras, three tilting photometers, and a Spectral Airglow Temperature Imager (SATI) with two container houses to install them in. These instruments measure wind, temperature and 2-dimensional airglow patterns in the upper atmosphere at multi-wavelengths of OI (557.7 nm and 630.0 nm), OH (6-2) bands, O 2 (0, 1) bands, and Na (589.3 nm), simultaneously. Examples of the data are shown for the cameras, the photometers, and the SATI based on the airglow observation at a mid-latitude station in Japan. Good correlation of the photometer and SATI observations is obtained. A comparison is shown for small-and large-scale wave structures in airglow images at four wavelengths around the mesopause region using four cooled-CCD cameras. We found an event during which large-scale bands, small-scale row-like structures, and large-scale front passage occur simultaneously.

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“…TINSLEY et al (1984) pointed out that there are two types of the low-latitude auroras. One is optical emissions characterized by N2 1N bands, 01 7774-A line, and sometimes hydrogen Balmer /3 line, and the other is optical emissions characterized by 01 6300-A line, NI 5200-A line, and other lines of excitation potential of only a few eV.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Low-Latitude Auroras Observed at Moshiri and Rikubetsu (L=1.6) during Magnetic Storms on February 26, 27, 29, and May 10, 1992.

Shiokawa

Yumoto

Tanaka

et al. 1994

J. geomagn. geoelec

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This paper reports latitudinal and longitudinal movements of four low-latitude auroras observed by a meridian scanning photometer and an all-sky TV camera at Moshiri and Rikubetsu (L = 1.6) in Japan during magnetic storms. It is observationally found that the low-latitude auroras occur in the region of L -2 even during moderate magnetic storms. The auroras which are characterized by 6300-A emissions of several kR are also found to take place associated with magnetospheric substorm activity during the maximum phase of magnetic storms. The auroras and associated current systems inferred from ground magnetic field fluctuations tend to expand from midnight toward both the dawnside and the duskside. It is suggested that the observed low-latitude auroras are excited by precipitating low-energy electrons originated in the plasmasphere. We discuss generation mechanisms of these electrons based on the observations.

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Spectral characteristics of two types of low latitude aurorae

Cited by 44 publications

References 16 publications

Sporadic aurorae observed in East Asia

Sporadic aurorae observed in East Asia

Development of Optical Mesosphere Thermosphere Imagers (OMTI)

Low-Latitude Auroras Observed at Moshiri and Rikubetsu (L=1.6) during Magnetic Storms on February 26, 27, 29, and May 10, 1992.

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