Determination of inverted‐V stability from Dynamics Explorer satellite data

Abstract

The longevity of a number of inverted‐V electron precipitation events was measured by comparing electron distributions acquired from the two Dynamics Explorer spacecraft during close proximity passes through the southern auroral zone. Common events were identified in the two data sets for time separations up to 18 min. The maximum energy attained within an inverted‐V sometimes varied between observations indicating growth or decay of the event. The number of events increasing in energy was roughly equal to those exhibiting decreasing energy, suggesting similar time scales for growth and decay. Observations closely spaced in time (minutes) had some events not in common, implying either a sudden cessation of the event or a limited spatial extent precluding observation by one of the two spacecraft due to its orbital displacement. A statistical study of 28 close proximity passes showed that the number of matched inverted‐V events exceeded those which were unmatched. This was not true for comparisons of random pairs of electron distribution plots for the two spacecraft. This implies that the close proximity events observed by both spacecraft were not just random coincidences.