Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Eastes, R. W.
• Killeen, T. L.
• Wu, Q.
• Winningham, J. D.
• Hoegy, W. R.
• Wharton, L. E.
• Carignan, G. R.

Titel

An experimental investigation of thermospheric structure near an auroral arc

Ist Teil von

• Journal of Geophysical Research, 1992-07, Vol.97 (A7), p.10539-10549

Ort / Verlag

Legacy CDMS: Blackwell Publishing Ltd

Erscheinungsjahr

1992

Link zum Volltext

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The paper compares observations of thermospheric parameters, made from DE-2 spacecraft during three successive orbital crossings of a quiescent dusk sector auroral arc, with the predictions of three fine-grid auroral arc models. DE-2 measured the ion and neutral window, electron and neutral temperatures, neutral composition, and energetic auroral electron spectra (5 eV to 32 keV) at about 320 km altitude. The DE-2 composition measurements showed a local increase of the N2/O ratio in the arc, which is interpreted to be a result of the upward motion of N2-rich air. A reduction in the measured neutral temperature of about 100 K in the arc, relative to temperatures on either side, was found for all three arc crossings. Of the three theoretical models examined, only one shows a tendency for the neutral thermospheric temperature to drop in the auroral arc, and the decrease is significantly less than the observed temperature change.