Airborne auroral data and satellite data analysis

Abstract

The photometric data taken during the 1969 CV990 expedition were analyzed. It was found that the so-called soft auroral zone extends right through the night side auroral zone. The soft precipitation is a permanent feature of the night side auroral zone and probably signifies the position of the plasma sheet. The harder auroras which include the conventional visible auroras occur less frequently. The intensity and mean energy of auroral electrons is correlated suggesting that the fluctuation in auroral intensity comes primarily from the variability of the acceleration mechanism rather than the variations in the particle population densities. During the 1969 CV990 expedition, coordinated data was taken with the particle experiments on OV1-18 and ATS-5 satellites. The satellite data was reduced to facilitate coordinated investigations with the airborne experimenters. The airborne photometric lambda 5200 NI data were analyzed and the effective life time was found to be 4.5 minutes.