A photoelectric analyzer of all-sky camera auroral photographs

Abstract

It seems that quantitative analysis of time series of auroral luminosity is a promising approach for research on high atmospheric disturbances in the polar region, especially in connection with the analysis of the simultaneous records of geomagnetic and ionospheric disturbances. Continuous records of the auroral luminosity obtained by a photoelectric photometer will be very useful for this purpose. However, even during the IGY/IGC period such photometers were set up in very few places. On the other hand, it is now possible to have all-sky camera data of auroras observed at about 140 auroral stations over the earth. For the purpose of reducing practically continuous series of variation in auroral luminosity from the IGY/IGC all-sky camera data (a series of every minute photographs), the writers designed and constructed a photoelectric analyzer of all-sky camera auroral photographs, and this apparatus has proved to work sufficiently well for the above-mentioned purpose.