Auroral Poleward Boundary Research Articles

Evaluating Auroral Forecasts Against Satellite Observations Under Different Levels of Geomagnetic Activity

AbstractThe aurora and associated high energy particles and currents pose a space weather hazard to communication networks and ground‐based infrastructure. Forecasting the location of the auroral oval forms an integral component of daily space weather operations. We evaluate a version of the OVATION‐Prime 2013 auroral forecast model that was implemented for operational use at the UK Met Office Space Weather Operations Cent. Building on our earlier studies, we evaluate the ability of the OVATION‐Prime 2013 model to predict the location of the auroral oval in all latitude and local time sectors under different levels of geomagnetic activity, defined by Kp. We compare the model predictions against auroral boundaries determined from IMAGE FUV data. Our analysis shows that the model performs well at predicting the equatorward extent of the auroral oval, particularly as the equatorward auroral boundary expands to lower latitudes for increasing Kp levels. The model performance is reduced in the high latitude region near the poleward auroral boundary, particularly in the nightside sectors where the model does not accurately capture the expansion and contraction of the polar cap as the open flux content of the magnetosphere changes. For increasing levels of geomagnetic activity (Kp ≥ 3), the performance of the model decreases, with the poleward edge of the auroral oval typically observed at lower latitudes than forecast. As such, the forecast poleward edge of the auroral oval is less reliable during more active and hazardous intervals.

On the Creation, Depletion, and End of Life of Polar Cap Patches

AbstractIonospheric convection patterns from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network are used to determine the trajectories, transit times, and decay rates of three polar cap patches from their creation in the dayside polar cap ionosphere to their end of life on the nightside. The first two polar cap patches were created within 12 min of each other and traveled through the dayside convection throat, before entering the nightside auroral oval after 104 and 92 min, respectively. When the patches approached the nightside auroral oval, an intensification in the poleward auroral boundary occurred close to their exit point, followed by a decrease in the transit velocity. The last patch (patch 3) decayed completely within the polar cap and had a lifetime of only 78 min. After a change in drift direction, patch 3 had a radar backscatter power half‐life of 4.23 min, which reduced to 1.80 min after a stagnation, indicating a variable decay rate. 28 minutes after the change in direction, and 16 min after coming to a halt within the Clyde River radar field‐of‐view, patch 3 appeared to reach its end of life. We relate this rapid decay to increased frictional heating, which speeds up the recombination rate. Therefore, we suggest that the slowed patch motion within the polar cap convection pattern is a major factor in determining whether the patch survives as a recognizable density enhancement by the time the flux tubes comprising the initial patch cross into the nightside auroral oval.

Is Westward Travelling Surge Driven by the Polar Cap Flow Channels?

AbstractFollowing substorm auroral onset, the active aurora region usually expands poleward toward the poleward auroral boundary. Such poleward expansion is often associated with a bulge region that expands westward and forms the westward travelling surge. In this study, we show all‐sky imager and Poker Flat Advanced Modular Incoherent Scatter Radar observations of two surge events to investigate the relationship between the surge and ionospheric flows that likely have polar cap origin. For both events, we observe auroral streamers, with an adjacent flow channel consisting of decreased density and low electron temperature plasma flowing equatorward. This flow channel appears to impinge and lead/feed surge formation, and to stay connected to the surge as it moves westward. Also, for both events, streamer observations indicate that, following initial surge development, similar flows led to explosive surge enhancements. The observation that the streamers are connected to the auroral polar boundary and that the flow channels consisted of low density, low electron temperature plasma suggests the possibility that the impinging plasma came from the polar cap. For both events, the altitude variations of F region plasma within the surges are related with aurora emission and the poleward/equatorward flow, and the surges develop strong auroral streamers that initiate along the poleward auroral boundary when contacted with the flow. These results suggest that the flow of polar cap origin, which maps to underlying processes in the magnetotail, may play a crucial role in auroral surges by feeding low entropy plasma into surge initiation and development, and also playing an important role in the dynamics within a surge.

Magnetotail Flux Accumulation Leads to Substorm Current Wedge Formation: A Case Study

AbstractReconnection‐generated earthward flows, magnetic field dipolarizations, and auroral expansions are related to substorm current wedge (SCW) development. It has been suggested that field‐aligned currents (FACs) within the SCW can be generated by flow vortices, pressure gradients, or both. Observations related to these generation mechanisms differ from one event to another, due to their different locations relative to SCW's central meridian and timing relative to the SCW's evolutionary state. A pattern of in situ observations consistent with these generation mechanisms has yet to emerge. Obtaining such a pattern of in situ observations relies on the satellite locations relative to the FAC driver regions, which are hard to determine because coincident magnetotail observations are sparse. To solve this problem, an SCW inversion technique was used to model the FAC locations and determine the connections between magnetospheric and ionospheric phenomena. Using this technique, the magnetic flux, a parameter that is relatively insensitive to FAC locations, was analyzed during an isolated substorm on February 13, 2008. We compared the temporal variations of the accumulated flux that caused magnetic dipolarization in the SCW and the flux within the auroral poleward boundary. We found them to be in good agreement with the flux transported by earthward flows. This agreement suggests that the accumulation of the magnetic flux leads to the generation of the SCW, causing magnetic dipolarization and auroral poleward expansion. The amount of accumulated flux was found to be positively correlated with the amplitudes of these substorm‐related phenomena.

Substorm onset and development: The crucial role of flow channels

In this paper, we described the basic features and observations bases of the scenario for the substorm expansion phase that we have developed from our research over the past ~10 years. Onset occurs along magnetic field lines of the inner proton plasma sheet, and is first seen in the aurora as beading along the onset aurora arc, which lies near the equatorward boundary of the auroral oval. Growth of these onset waves and large amplitude electric field oscillations indicates that an abrupt transition from a stable to unstable state leads to onset. The transition to instability occurs as a result of an intrusion of a low-entropy flow burst/channel (i.e., a plasma bubble) to the inner plasma sheet, and such flow bursts are marked in the auroral oval by the initiation of a poleward boundary intensification (PBI) that evolves into an auroral streamer. Plasma flows associated with these and other PBIs are generally associated with enhanced reconnection at the distant tail neutral line, the reconnection being triggered by an incoming flow channel from the polar cap. It is reasonable that the onset instability is triggered by the intruding reduced entropy plasma abruptly changing the entropy distribution in the inner plasma sheet, though the specific onset instability has not been identified. The onset instability is azimuthally aligned and expands azimuthally, these occurring because, as a bubble moves earthward, lower energy ions tending to follow the electric field drift towards the dawn side while higher energy ions magnetic drift towards the duskside. Thus entropy is not conserved along center of mass drift trajectories, and the bubble spreads in longitude and deepens. The transition to non-linearity of the growing onset waves leads to streamers. How this occurs is another major outstanding question, but the first streamers could initiate within the plasma sheet ~20 RE downtail, the region where reconnection has been inferred to occur soon after onset. It is likely that streamers and their associated reconnection initiate at the distant tail neutral line once the expansion phase auroral activity reaches the auroral poleward boundary. The substorm current wedge builds up from a sequence of longitudinally localized flow burst regions (wedgelets) that are associated with the expansion-phase streamers, dipolarize the local magnetic field, and give rise to traditional ground onset signatures on the ground, namely auroral zone H bays and mid-latitude positive H bays and Pi2 pulsations.

Auroral boundary movement rates during substorm onsets and their correspondence to solar wind and the AL index

A statistical analysis of the equatorward and poleward auroral boundary movement during substorm onsets, the related solar wind activity, GOES 8 and 10 magnetic field, and the westward auroral electrojet (AL) index is undertaken, during the years 2000–2002. Auroral boundary data were obtained from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS). These boundaries were derived using auroral images from the IMAGE satellite. The timing of the onsets was derived from the Frey et al. (2004) database. Data were also classified based on the peak AL around the onset and the onset latitude, in order to analyze the differences, if any, in the rates of movement. It was found that the absolute ratio of the rate of movement of the mean poleward and equatorward boundaries was slower than the rate of mean movement around the midnight sector. The stronger the onset (in terms of the peak AL around the onset) was, the faster the rate of movement for both the boundaries. This implies that the stronger the AL signature around the onset, the weaker the magnetic field was prior to the onset and the faster it increased after the onset at GOES 8 and 10 locations. The stronger the AL signature, the thicker the latitudinal width of the aurora was, prior to the onset and higher was the increase in the width after the onset, due to large poleward and average equatorward expansion. Magnetotail field line stretching and relaxation rates as measured by GOES were also found to lie in the same order of magnitude. It is therefore concluded that the rates of latitudinal descent prior to a substorm onset and ascent after the onset, of the mean auroral boundaries, corresponds to the rate at which the tail field lines stretch and relax before and after the onset, respectively.

Equatorward evolution of auroras from the poleward auroral boundary

An all-sky imager installed at the midnight sector in Dawson City (66.0° in geomagnetic latitude) recorded the equatorward evolution of auroras from the auroral poleward boundary. The auroras evolved as shear layers expanding southeastward with velocities of 1–4km/s, referred to as N-S auroras, and occurred during the transient intensification of the convection electric fields in the nighttime magnetosphere, as inferred from an electron spectrogram at geosynchronous altitudes. A continuous increase in the inclination angle of the field lines and magnetic field perturbations associated with propagating ionospheric loop currents were observed in the auroral zone during the N-S auroras. Simultaneously, Pc4 pulsations were observed at low latitudes from night to day sectors. We conclude the following: (1) the N-S auroras are an auroral manifestation of the earthward drift of plasma sheet electrons in the equatorial plane associated with transient and localized convection electric fields; (2) the Pc4 pulsations are produced in the magnetosphere by plasma sheet ions in the plasmasphere. The localized convection fields produce a vortical motion of plasmas in the equatorial plane, which may initiate the N-S auroras and ionospheric loop currents in the auroral zone.

Polar cap precursor of nightside auroral oval intensifications using polar cap arcs

AbstractRecent radar and optical observations suggested that localized fast flows in the polar cap precede disturbances within the nightside auroral oval. However, how commonly this connection occurs has been difficult to examine due to limited coverage of radar flow measurements and diffuse and dim nature of airglow patches. Polar cap arcs are also associated with fast flows in the polar cap and appear much brighter than patches, allowing evaluation of the interaction between polar cap structures and nightside aurora more definitively. We have surveyed data during six winter seasons and selected quasi‐steady polar cap arcs lasting >1 h. Thirty‐four arcs are found, and for the majority (~85%) of them, as they extend equatorward from high latitude, their contact with the nightside auroral poleward boundary is associated with new and substantial intensifications within the oval. These intensifications are localized (< ~1 h magnetic local time (MLT)) and statistically occur within 10 min and ±1 h MLT from the contact. They appear as poleward boundary intensifications in a thick auroral oval or an intensification of the only resolvable arc within a thin oval, and the latter can also exhibit substantial poleward expansion. When radar echoes are available, they corroborate the association of polar cap arcs with localized enhanced antisunward flows. That the observed oval intensifications are major disturbances that only occur after the impingement of polar cap arcs and near the contact longitude suggest that they are triggered by localized fast flows coming from deep in the polar cap.

Azimuthal flow bursts in the inner plasma sheet and possible connection with SAPS and plasma sheet earthward flow bursts

AbstractWe have combined radar observations and auroral images obtained during the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar Ion Neutral Observations in the Thermosphere campaign to show the common occurrence of westward moving, localized auroral brightenings near the auroral equatorward boundary and to show their association with azimuthally moving flow bursts near or within the subauroral polarization stream (SAPS) region. These results indicate that the SAPS region, rather than consisting of relatively stable proton precipitation and westward flows, can have rapidly varying flows, with speeds varying from ~100 m/s to ~1 km/s in just a few minutes. The auroral brightenings are associated with bursts of weak electron precipitation that move westward with the westward flow bursts and extend into the SAPS region. Additionally, our observations show evidence that the azimuthally moving flow bursts often connect to earthward (equatorward in the ionosphere) plasma sheet flow bursts. This indicates that rather than stopping or bouncing, some flow bursts turn azimuthally after reaching the inner plasma sheet and lead to the bursts of strong azimuthal flow. Evidence is also seen for a general guiding of the flow bursts by the large‐scale convection pattern, flow bursts within the duskside convection being azimuthally turned to the west, and those within the dawn cell being turned toward the east. The possibility that the SAPS region flow structures considered here may be connected to localized flow enhancements from the polar cap that cross the nightside auroral poleward boundary and lead to flow bursts within the plasma sheet warrants further consideration.

Magnetic local time variation and scaling of poleward auroral boundary dynamics

AbstractThe balance of dayside and nightside reconnection processes within the Earth's magnetosphere and its effect on the amount of open magnetic flux threading the ionosphere is well understood in terms of the expanding‐contracting polar cap model. However, the nature and character of the consequential fluctuations in the polar cap boundary are poorly understood. By using the poleward auroral luminosity boundary (PALB), as measured by the FUV instrument of the IMAGE spacecraft, as a proxy for the polar cap boundary, we have studied the motion of this boundary for more than 2 years across the complete range of magnetic local time. Our results show that the dayside PALB dynamics are broadly self‐similar on timescales of 12 min to 6 h and appear to be monofractal. Similarity with the characteristics of solar wind and interplanetary magnetic field variability suggests that this dayside monofractal behavior is predominantly inherited from the solar wind via the reconnection process. The nightside PALB dynamics exhibit scale‐free behavior at intermediate time scales (12–90 min) and appear to be multifractal. We propose that this character is a result of the intermittent multifractal structure of magnetotail reconnection.

Evolution of nightside subauroral proton aurora caused by transient plasma sheet flows

AbstractWhile nightside subauroral proton aurora shows rapid temporal variations, the cause of this variability has rarely been investigated. Using well‐coordinated observations by the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) all‐sky imagers, THEMIS satellites in the equatorial magnetosphere, and the low‐altitude NOAA 17 satellite, we examined the rapid temporal evolution of subauroral proton aurora in the premidnight sector. An isolated proton aurora occurred soon after an auroral poleward boundary intensification that was followed by an auroral streamer reaching the equatorward boundary of the auroral oval. Three THEMIS satellites in the magnetotail detected flow bursts and one of the THEMIS satellites in the outer plasmasphere observed a ring current injection together with electromagnetic ion cyclotron wave intensifications. Proton auroral brightenings occurred multiple times throughout the storm main phase and a majority of those were correlated with auroral streamers reaching the auroral equatorward boundary. This sequence highlights the important role of transient flow bursts and particle injections for plasma transport into the inner magnetosphere and thus reflects a tail‐inner magnetospheric interaction process in which transient flow bursts play an important role in injecting ring current ions into the plasmasphere, causing rapid modulation of precipitation and the resultant subauroral proton aurora.

Coordinated SuperDARN THEMIS ASI observations of mesoscale flow bursts associated with auroral streamers

AbstractNightside auroral zone localized flow channels, typically associated with auroral poleward boundary intensifications and streamers, are an important component of high‐latitude ionospheric plasma dynamics. We investigate the structure of these flow channels using two‐dimensional line‐of‐sight flow observations from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radars and auroral images from the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) ground‐based all‐sky imager (ASI) array. Radar echoes captured <~500 km horizontal distance from the radars were mainly used to detect small‐scale flow structures that would otherwise be missed or poorly resolved in long‐range radar echoes. After identifying 135 auroral streamers in the ASI images at close‐radar capture locations, we examined the associated ionospheric flow data in the radar echoes. Flow bursts and streamers are invariably correlated in all events. The flow bursts are often directed equatorward and appear simultaneously with the streamers. Equatorward flows are located just to the east of the streamers. Less frequently (~10% of the time), a poleward flow enhancement was detected even when a streamer propagated equatorward, the poleward flow enhancement being located to the west of the auroral streamer, or to the east of the equatorward flow enhancement, consistently with the spatial relationship between flow shear and upward field‐aligned currents in plasma sheet flow bursts. The azimuthal width of the flow channel is, on average, ~75 km, and the azimuthal offset of the equatorward flow channel relative to the auroral streamer is ~57 km eastward. This study demonstrates the capability of radar‐imager pairs for identifying the 2‐D structure of localized flows associated with plasma sheet flow bursts.

Westward traveling surges: Sliding along boundary arcs and distinction from onset arc brightening

After onset, auroral brightening rapidly spreads azimuthally along the onset arc, typically, but not always, extending substantially farther westward than eastward. Expansion‐phase auroras also expand poleward and can contact an arc along the auroral poleward boundary. For such events, we find that poleward expansion of the region of active aurora accelerates after contact, forming a bulge region that protrudes into the preexisting polar cap and expands westward as the westward traveling surge. This westward motion is slower than, and initiates later than, the azimuthal spreading of the onset arc brightening. The poleward boundary arc remains connected to the surge as the surge slides along the equatorward moving edge of the boundary arc, and this connection appears to set off the westward traveling, poleward protruding activity of the surge via localized polar cap flow adjacent to the boundary arc. Ground magnetic signatures show a relatively weak H component depression moving westward with the onset arc brightening, and a delayed substantially larger depression moving with the westward propagating surge that must be associated with a substantially larger westward ionospheric current. The clear distinction between onset arc brightening and the westward traveling surge seen in auroral and magnetometer current signatures implies that their underlying processes are very different. Evidence suggests that flow channels adjacent to the boundary arc possibly feed surge development. These results are consistent with current wedge formation being more associated with post‐onset activity than with onset, and with flow channels from the polar cap being important for surge/bulge development.

Observations of polar cap flow channel and plasma sheet flow bursts during substorm expansion

AbstractWe present the first simultaneous observations of an enhanced polar cap flow impinging on the nightside polar cap boundary (PCB), two flow bursts in the plasma sheet and a conjugate ionospheric flow burst within the auroral oval. The ionospheric measurements on 3 September 2006 were made by the European Incoherent Scatter (EISCAT) radars and the magnetospheric measurements by the four Cluster spacecraft. In the end of a substorm growth phase, EISCAT measured a channel of enhanced equatorward plasma flow within the polar cap, which was about 1° wide in latitude and drifted slowly equatorward. During the substorm expansion phase, the PCB started to contract poleward. The interaction between the equatorward drifting polar cap flow channel and the poleward contracting PCB took 2–3 min. During this time, the F‐region electron temperature was elevated at the PCB, which is interpreted as a possible signature of an auroral poleward boundary intensification (PBI). After that, enhanced equatorward flows were measured inside the auroral oval by EISCAT. During this period, the Cluster satellites measured two fast earthward flow bursts in the plasma sheet, which were associated with dipolarizations of the magnetic field, depletions in plasma density, and return flows. We suggest that the second flow burst in the plasma sheet represents the same flow burst that is seen in the ionosphere by EISCAT and propose that the plasma sheet flow bursts were triggered by the enhanced flow structure on open polar cap field lines. The suggestion is in line with Lyons et al. (2011).

Structure and dynamics of the nightside poleward boundary: Sounding rocket and ground‐based observations of auroral electron precipitation in a rayed curtain

The Cascades2 auroral sounding rocket provides a case study for comparing multipoint in situ ionospheric observations of a nightside auroral poleward boundary intensification with ground‐based optical observations of the same event. Cascades2 was launched northward from Poker Flat Alaska on 20 March 2009 at 11:04 UT. The 13 min flight reached an apogee of 564 km over the northern coast of Alaska. The experiment included a five‐payload array of in situ instrumentation, ground cameras at three different points under the trajectory, multiple ground magnetometers, the Poker Flat Incoherent Scatter Radar (PFISR) radar, and the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorms (THEMIS) spacecraft in the magnetotail. The rays of the poleward boundary intensification (PBI) curtain have along‐arc motions of 8.5 km/s and along‐arc spacings of 16 km. Modulated maximum energy envelopes and energy fluxes of the associated electron precipitation correspond to this spatial structure of the visible rays. The electron precipitation is additionally modulated at a higher frequency, and velocity dispersion analysis of these 8 Hz signatures implies Alfvénic wave‐particle acceleration of an ambient ionospheric electron source occurring a few hundred km above the observation point. These observations parameterize the curtain of Alfvénic activity above the PBI event, both in the dispersive ionosphere and in the magnetotail reconnection region. The along‐arc variations in brightness correspond to variations in precipitating electron energy flux interpreted as an along‐arc modulation of the maximum energy of the Alfvénic wave‐particle acceleration process; this is a new interpretation of the formation of rayed structures in auroral curtains. We consider the various possible magnetospheric and ionospheric drivers for the control of the observed along‐arc structuring and motions.

Simultaneous ground‐satellite observations of meso‐scale auroral arc undulations

We present simultaneous ground‐based and in situ measurements of a train of meso‐scale (about 100–300 km) auroral arc undulations, occurring in the postmidnight sector (∼1 MLT) between 0040 UT and 0054 UT on September 21, 2009. The undulations appeared at the auroral poleward boundary, and then moved eastward with a speed of 0.9–2.2 km s−1. Dynamic behaviors of the associated meso‐scale ionospheric plasma flows and current systems were also detected with the ground‐based magnetometer and radar measurements within the all‐sky camera field‐of‐view. During the interval of interest, simultaneous Cluster observations in the central near tail region (11–14 RE down tail) were available, and especially the ionospheric footprint of Cluster 2 (CL2) was close to the optical auroral forms. CL2 observed strong fluctuations in the in situ magnetic field with amplitude of 5–10 nT whenever a bright arc area, and its trailing adjacent area, of the auroral undulations passed its ionospheric footprint. Such in situ magnetic field changes at CL2 could be considered as a manifestation of localized upward and downward field‐aligned current sheets moving eastward at the central near‐Earth tail boundary, linked to the meso‐scale auroral undulation structures.

Two‐dimensional ionospheric flow pattern associated with auroral streamers

We present direct two‐dimensional flow observations and auroral images from the Super Dual Auroral Radar Network (SuperDARN) radar and Wideband Imaging Camera onboard Imager for Magnetopause‐to‐Aurora Global Exploration (IMAGE/WIC) imager to investigate the ionospheric flow pattern associated with auroral streamers for four events. Using the SuperDARN observations allows us to observe the flow associated with the streamers in the context of the larger‐scale background convection. For all four cases studied, streamers developed from preexisting east‐west (EW) arcs that initiated from bead‐like or small‐scale auroral intensifications around the auroral poleward boundary. We find a vortex‐like flow pattern with clockwise sense surrounding both the initial auroral forms and the ensuing streamers. We also found in three cases signatures of flow bifurcations at the equatorward end of the streamers, which suggests a double vortex‐like flow pattern with the counterclockwise vortex east of the clockwise one. Our results are consistent with the double‐vortex flow structure that results from interchange convection associated with a plasma sheet bubble predicted by different numerical simulations. This supports several previous studies and offers more complete observational evidence that the observed flow pattern may be the ionospheric manifestation of interchange instability in the plasma sheet.

Ionospheric convection signatures of tail fast flows during substorms and Poleward Boundary Intensifications (PBI)

[1] Tail fast flows have been associated both with the onset of substorms and with auroral Poleward Boundary Intensifications (PBIs) that extend equatorward as streamers. We study here a series of bursts of fast tail flow that occurred on 5 March 2008 when four of the THEMIS probes were aligned in the tail from mid-tail to inner magnetosphere and were in good conjunction with the Sondrestrom Incoherent Scatter Radar. The series of burst are identified as two separate events. We find that the first event is associated with a small substorm onset, and the second with a PBI and then possibly another onset. The ionospheric flow signatures of the substorm and the PBI are distinctly different: the substorm onset is characterized by flow enhancement in the polar cap several minutes before onset and by sudden ionospheric flow reduction at onset, while the PBI is accompanied by a flow enhancement directed primarily equatorward and intruding from the polar cap into the plasma sheet.

Sounding rocket study of two sequential auroral poleward boundary intensifications

[1] The Cascades-2 sounding rocket was launched on 20 March 2009 at 11:04:00 UT from the Poker Flat Research Range in Alaska, and flew across a series of poleward boundary intensifications (PBIs). The rocket initially crosses a diffuse arc, then crosses the equatorward extent of one PBI (a streamer), and finally crosses the initiation of a separate PBI before entering the polar cap. Each of the crossings have fundamentally different in situ electron energy and pitch angle structure, and different ground optics images of visible aurora. It is found that the diffuse arc has a quasi-static acceleration mechanism, and the intensification at the poleward boundary has an Alfvenic acceleration mechanism. The streamer shows characteristics of both types of acceleration. PFISR data provide ionospheric context for the rocket observations. Three THEMIS satellites in close conjunction with the rocket foot point show earthward flows and slight dipolarizations in the magnetotail associated with the in situ observations of PBI activity. An important goal of the Cascades-2 study is to bring together the different observational communities (rocket, ground cameras, ground radar, satellite) with the same case study. The Cascades-2 experiment is the first sounding rocket observation of a PBI sequence, enabling a detailed investigation of the electron signatures and optical aurora associated with various stages of a PBI sequence as it evolves from an Alfvenic to a more quasi-static structure.

Seasonal and interplanetary magnetic field–dependent polar cap contraction during substorm expansion phase

Recent observations from simultaneous imaging in two hemispheres have shown that the polar caps can attain considerably different shapes as the auroral ovals contract during the substorm expansion phase. We use images from 2770 substorms to study the evolution of the polar cap boundary location statistically. We show that, during the first 26 min after substorm expansion phase onset, the polar cap boundary location depends on seasons, interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) By, and IMF Bx. For different signs of By, with ∣By∣ > 3 nT, the asymmetry in polar cap boundary observed at onset increases during the expansion phase, consistent with an increase in tail reconnection of field lines with asymmetrical footpoints. When Bx > 2 nT and ∣By∣ < 2 nT, the polar cap boundary dawnward of the onset propagates slightly farther poleward compared to negative Bx conditions. In the sunlit hemisphere, the polar cap boundary evolves from a pronounced equatorward displacement at onset to an almost reversed displacement during the expansion phase, compared to substorms observed in darkness. Substorms in the dark hemisphere also have a much more pronounced bulge than substorms in the sunlit hemisphere. If the interpretation of the poleward auroral boundary as being coincident with the open/closed field line boundary (OCB) is correct, the seasonal differences in OCB locations imply seasonal differences in the ionospheric convection during the substorm expansion phase.