Optical and SuperDARN radar observations of duskside shock aurora over Zhongshan Station

Jianjun, Liu and Hongqiao, Hu and Desheng, Han and Yonghua, Liu and Qinghe, Zhang and Yukimatu, A.S. (2013) Optical and SuperDARN radar observations of duskside shock aurora over Zhongshan Station. Advances in Polar Science, 24 (1). pp. 60-68.

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Abstract

We present observations of a duskside shock aurora occurred on 21 April 2001 by the SuperDARN radar at Syowa Station and the all-sky camera at Zhongshan Station (ZHS) in Antarctica when the radar was operated in fast-scan mode covering the ZHS region. With the two independent data sets, we examine ionospheric plasma convection and aurora arising from a sudden impulse (SI) event associated with an interplanetary shock. During the transient shock compression, the aurora was quiescent without any optical emission at the preliminary impulse of the SI. About 7 min later, a new thin auroral arc with brighter emissions and a lifetime of ~14 min expanded westward from the region above ZHS during the main impulse of the SI. SuperDARN radar line-of-sight measurements showed periodical oscillation in the flow direction with ultra-low-frequency waves having a period of ~8 min during the shock compression. We suggest that downward field-aligned current during the preliminary impulse stage of the SI was the main driver of the first plasma flow reversal, and the subsequent new discrete auroral arc may be associated with field-aligned acceleration in the region of the main impulse related upward field-aligned currents. The ground magnetometer observations suggest that the oscillation of the ionospheric convection on the duskside was associated with field line resonance activity.

Item Type:	Article
Related URLs:
Keywords:	SuperDARN radar, shock aurora, sudden impulse, flow reversal
Subjects:	Natural Environment > Space
Organizations:	Unspecified
Date Deposited:	27 Sep 2023 10:42
URI:	http://library.arcticportal.org/id/eprint/2480

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