Vol. 16, issue 05-06, article # 28

Degtyarev V. I., Mikhalev A. V., Jiyao Xu. Night airglow variations over Eastern Siberia during March 31 - April 4, 2001, magnetic storm . // Atmospheric and oceanic optics. 2003. V. 16. No. 05-06. P. 511-515.    PDF
Copy the reference to clipboard

Abstract:

Unusual observations of intense night airglow emissions at mid-latitudes (52°N, 103°E) during a major magnetic storm of March 31 - April 4, 2001, are examined. The glow intensity in the 630 nm and 558 nm lines was as high as 3.5 and 1.5 kRl, respectively. Optical observations are compared with satellite data on precipitating energetic electrons and airglow soft X-ray emissions, as well as with ground-based observations of geomagnetic field and ionospheric conditions acquired at the longitude of the optical observations. It is concluded that the intense airglow emissions at 558 nm and in the spectral band of 360-410 nm was caused by high-energy auroral electrons precipitating into the atmosphere, and glow variations are connected with the plasma sheet dynamics during the storm. The 630 nm emission disturbances are mainly due to heating of the ionospheric F-region by soft electrons and in some periods they are interpreted as an intense SAR-arc. The dynamics of ionospheric and magnetospheric structures during the storm that determines the main optical characteristics of mid-latitude airglow emissions is discussed.