Auroral medium frequency burst radio emission associated with the 23 March 2007 THEMIS study substorm

Abstract

Auroral medium frequency (MF) burst is an impulsive auroral radio emission associated with substorm onset detected by ground‐based instruments between 1.3 and 4.5 MHz. On 23 March 2007 an MF burst emission was detected by the Dartmouth radio interferometer located near Toolik Lake, Alaska. This emission temporally coincides with the onset of the 23 March 2007 Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) study substorm. Directions of arrival computed using the Dartmouth radio interferometer for this event also coincide spatially with the location of the expanding auroral arcs to the south observed by the all‐sky imager at Fort Yukon, Alaska. This observation represents the first example of a direction of arrival measurement for MF burst. It strongly supports the association of MF burst with intense auroral arcs accompanying substorm onset. The direction of arrival of the MF burst is consistent with the direction to the eastern edge of the substorm onset location determined by multiple data sets during this substorm and suggests that location of MF burst radio emissions may be an effective method of locating substorm onsets, much as radio atmospherics are used to locate lightning.