Post-storm mid-latitude green aurora and electron precipitation

Abstract

Unusual auroral emission at mid-latitudes, showing nearly exclusively the green oxygen line (557.7 nm) and occurring during the early part of the recovery phase after strong magnetic storms is described. The emission has a life-time of up to several hours, consists of cloud-like patches and appears quite isolated at medium latitudes with no simultaneous aurorae at higher latitudes. The name “post-storm mid-latitude green aurora” is proposed for this emission. For the event observed during the night of 29–30 August 1978, additional ionospheric measurements from heights below the mid-latitude aurora ( ƒ min , A3-LF data) are available from nearby observations. Our investigation shows that the emission was observed just at the beginning of a post-storm effect (PSE) in ionospheric absorption. The optical and absorption data have been used to extract information on precipitating high-energy electrons, assumed to be the cause of both the optical emisson and the excessive absorption. During the night in question precipitating electrons with fluxes above the quiet-time level and energies upto at least 200 keV were found in a region extended in latitude (2.7 < L < 3.3) and probably even more extended in longitude. Latitudinally narrow bands, elongated along shells of constant L, with extremely high fluxes of 10–20keV electrons (according to our estimates at least 5. 10 7 el cm −2s −1) were embedded within this region.