| 1. |
- Sullivan, J. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Phase calibration of the EISCAT Svalbard Radar interferometer using optical satellite signatures
- 2006
-
Ingår i: Annales Geophysicae. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; 24:9, s. 2419-2427
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The link between natural ion-line enhancements in radar spectra and auroral activity has been the subject of recent studies but conclusions have been limited by the spatial and temporal resolution previously available. The next challenge is to use shorter sub-second integration times in combination with interferometric programmes to resolve spatial structure within the main radar beam, and so relate enhanced filaments to individual auroral rays. This paper presents initial studies of a technique, using optical and spectral satellite signatures, to calibrate the received phase of a signal with the position of the scattering source along the interferometric baseline of the EISCAT Svalbard Radar. It is shown that a consistent relationship can be found only if the satellite passage through the phase fringes is adjusted from the passage predicted by optical tracking. This required adjustment is interpreted as being due to the vector between the theoretical focusing points of the two antennae, i.e. the true radar baseline, differing from the baseline obtained by survey between the antenna foot points. A method to obtain a measurement of the true interferometric baseline using multiple satellite passes is outlined.
|
|
| 2. |
- Blixt, E. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Dynamic rayed aurora and enhanced ion-acoustic radar echoes
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Annales Geophysicae. - : Copernicus GmbH. - 0992-7689 .- 1432-0576. ; 23:1, s. 3-11
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The generation mechanism for naturally enhanced ion-acoustic echoes is still debated. One important issue is how these enhancements are related to auroral activity. All events of enhanced ion-acoustic echoes observed simultaneously with the EISCAT Svalbard Radar (ESR) and with high-resolution narrow field-of-view auroral imagers have been collected and studied. Characteristic of all the events is the appearance of very dynamic rayed aurora, and some of the intrinsic features of these auroral displays are identified. Several of these identified features are directly related to the presence of low energy (10-100 eV) precipitating electrons in addition to the higher energy population producing most of the associated light. The low energy contribution is vital for the formation of the enhanced ion-acoustic echoes. We argue that this type of aurora is sufficient for the generation of naturally enhanced ion-acoustic echoes. In one event two imagers were used to observe the auroral rays simultaneously, one from the radar site and one 7 kin away. The data from these imagers shows that the auroral rays and the strong backscattering filaments (where the enhanced echoes are produced) are located on the same field line, which is in contrast to earlier statements in the litterature that they should be separated.
|
|
| 3. |
- Blixt, E. M., et al.
(författare)
-
Optical flow analysis of the aurora borealis
- 2006
-
Ingår i: IEEE Geoscience and Remote Sensing Letters. - : Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). - 1545-598X .- 1558-0571. ; 3:1, s. 159-163
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Optical observations of the aurora have traditionally focused on the structure, intensity, and wavelength of the emissions. But the apparent motion of auroral forms offers another important diagnostic tool for investigating this poorly understood phenomenon. Prior analyses of auroral motion have focused on tracing individual features. In this letter, we investigate the feasibility of deriving the entire two-dimensional velocity field automatically using robust optical flow estimation. The analysis is applied to two narrow-field video sequences. Both examples are rich in small-scale structure and motion, but appear very different to the eye. The robust optical flow estimator performed well for regions of dense turbulent motion, while sheared flow and flow which is perpendicular to image intensity gradients, was poorly resolved. The relative magnitude of the outliers provides a quantitative measure of the validity of the underlying flow model and, hence, a means of automatically differentiating among auroral forms with differing physical origins. The technique can be used to deduce ionospheric electric fields and neutral winds, and the flow fields yield important physical information about the generation mechanism.
|
|
| 4. |
- Ivchenko, Nickolay V., et al.
(författare)
-
Multispectral observations of auroral rays and curls
- 2005
-
Ingår i: Geophysical Research Letters. - : American Geophysical Union (AGU). - 0094-8276 .- 1944-8007. ; 32:18
-
Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Two cases of discrete aurora are presented, in which auroral curls and auroral rays, respectively, were seen. The aurora was imaged by two spatially separated imagers with a long-pass filter ( mainly sensitive to N-2 and N-2(+) emissions), and another imager with a narrow- band 7325 angstrom filter ( sensitive to forbidden O+ doublet). Also, spectra of the aurora were recorded. Using the multispectral imaging and spectra we find that the curls occurred in aurora caused by precipitation of energetic electrons with a lack of low-energy population, while in the rays both high and low energy precipitation were present simultaneously. These findings are confirmed by the altitude determination from triangulation.
|
|
