A Sun‐aligned arc observed by DMSP and AE‐C

Abstract

On May 12, 1977, 8 minutes after a DMSP satellite photographed a sun‐aligned auroral arc in the southern polar cap, AE‐C crossed over the same arc. Precipitating electrons were observed with a peak energy flux of 0.94 erg cm−2 s−1 but with no clear monoenergetic beam, and coincident ion precipitation was measured at energies of a few keV. A very sharp ion convection reversal was found coincident with the particle precipitation and embedded in a region of constant antisunward flow. Magnetic field data indicate that the arc occurred during the recovery phase of a weak magnetic storm, with the IMF in a toward sector and the Z component nearly zero. The data are consistent with a source of particles at altitudes of the order of 5–8 RE on field lines containing the plasma sheet boundary layer. The electron spectra do not indicate the existence of an electrostatic potential along the magnetic field lines projecting from the arc. The electrodynamic properties associated with the arc appear to be consistent with a simple model in which field‐aligned currents are required along any boundary where the horizontal ionospheric current diverges.