• Title/Summary/Keyword: auroral imaging

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Short Wave Infrared Imaging for Auroral Physics and Aeronomy Studies

  • Trond S. Trondsen;John Meriwether;Craig Unick;Andrew Gerrard;Matthew Cooper;Devin Wyatt
    • Journal of Astronomy and Space Sciences
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    • v.41 no.2
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    • pp.121-138
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    • 2024
  • Advances in solar-terrestrial physics are generally linked to the development of innovative new sensor technologies, affording us ever better sensitivity, higher resolution, and broader spectral response. Recent advances in low-noise InGaAs sensor technology have enabled the realization of low-light-level scientific imaging within the short-wave infrared (SWIR) region of the electromagnetic spectrum. This paper describes a new and highly sensitive ultra-wide angle imager that offers an expansion of auroral and airglow imaging capabilities into the SWIR spectral range of 900-1,700 nm. The imager has already proven successful in large-area remote sensing of mesospheric temperatures and in providing intensity maps showing the propagation and dissipation of atmospheric gravity waves and ripples. The addition of an automated filter wheel expands the range of applications of an already versatile SWIR detector. Several potential applications are proposed herein, with an emphasis on auroral science. The combined data from this type of instrument and other existing instrumentation holds a strong potential to further enhance our understanding of the geospace environment.

SMALL $H_3^+$ EMISSION PATCHES IN THE VICINITY OF JUPITER'S AURORAL REGIONS

  • KIM YONG-HA;KIM SANG JOON
    • Journal of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.28 no.1
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    • pp.89-95
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    • 1995
  • We examined a total of 166 images of $3.5{\mu}m\;H_3^+$ emission in the auroral regions of Jupiter observed with the Protocam on IRTF in 1991 and 1992, and found that 30 images contain a clearly isolated small emission patch in the vicinity of the northern auroral regions. Two different time sequences of the images show the small patches at the dusk limb in the range of System III longitudes from $270^{\circ}\;through\;0^{\circ}\;to\;90^{circ}$. The small patches in one sequence of the images, which were taken at 10 phase between $240^{\circ}\;and\;260^{\circ}$, may be related to the 10 flux tube, similarly suggested by Connerney et al. (1993). However, the small patches in the other sequence are separated from Io as much as $80^{\circ}$ in longitude. The positions of the small patches in both sequences are deviated equatorward from the 10 footprint oval by $5^{\circ}-8^{\circ}$ latitude in the longitudinal range of $270^{\circ}-360^{\circ}$. A significant modification is required in current Jovian magnetic field models near the Jupiter's surface if the small patches are produced at the foot of the 10 flux tube.

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SPACE PHYSICS PACKAGE ON KAISTSAT-4 (과학위성 1호의 우주 플라즈마 관측 시스템)

  • HWANG JUNG-A;LEE JAE-JIN;LEE DAE-HEE;LEE JIN-GUN;KIM HEE-JUN;PARK JAE-HEUNG;MIN KYOUNG WOOK;SHIN YOUNG-HOON
    • Publications of The Korean Astronomical Society
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    • v.15 no.spc2
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    • pp.45-52
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    • 2000
  • Four plasma instruments are currently under development for KAISTSAT-4 (K-4) which is scheduled for launch in 2002. They are the Solid-State Telescope, Electro-Static Analyzer, Langmuir Probe, and the Scientific Magnetometer, that will respectively allow in-situ detection of high energy and low energy components of auroral particles, ionospheric thermal electrons, and magnetic field disturbances. These instruments, together with the Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph, will provide micro-scale physics of Earth's polar ionosphere with detailed spectral information that has not been previously achieved with other space missions. In this paper, we review the concept of the four space plasma instruments as well as the anticipated results from the instruments.

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Simultaneous Observation of FUV Aurora with Precipitating Electrons on STSAT-1

  • Lee, C.N.;Min, K.W.;Lee, J.J.;Kim, K.H.;Kim, Y.H.;Han, W.;Edelstein, J.
    • Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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    • 2008.10a
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    • pp.31.2-31.2
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    • 2008
  • We present the results offar ultraviolet (FUV, 1350-1750 ${\AA}$) auroral observations made by the Far-ultraviolet IMaging Spectrograph (FIMS) instrument on the Korean microsatellite STSAT-1. The instrument was capable of resolving spatial structures of a few kilometers with the spectral resolution of 2-3 ${\AA}$. The observations were carried out simultaneously with the measurement of precipitating electrons using an electrostatic analyzer (ESA, 100 eV-20 keV) and a solid state telescope (SST, 170 keV-360 keV) on board the same satellite. With a careful mapping of the field lines, we were able to correlate the particle spectrum to the corresponding FUV spectrum of the footprints of the FIMS image that varied significantly in fine scales. We divided the FIMS spectral band into the LBH long (LBHL, 1640-1715 ${\AA}$) and LBH short (LBHS, 1380-1455 ${\AA}$) bands, and compared the electron energies with the intensities of LBHL and LBHS for the well-defined inverted-V structures. The result shows a strong correlation between the total LBH intensity and the energy flux measured by ESAwhile the peak energy itself does not correlate well with the LBH intensity. On the other hand, it was observed that the ratio of the LBHL intensity to that of LBHS increased significantly as the peak electron energy increased, primarily due to a smaller absorption by O2 at LBHL than at LBHS.

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Analysis of FUV auroras by high energy electron precipitation

  • Lee, Chi-Na;Lee, Jae-Jin;Min, Kyung-Wook;Parks, G.K.;Fillingim, M.O.;Cho, Kyung-Suk;Park, Young-Deuk;Han, W.;Edelstein, J.
    • Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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    • 2009.10a
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    • pp.43.3-43.3
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    • 2009
  • Our previous study showed the intensity of the long LBH (1600 - 1715 ${\AA}$) was enhanced very much compared to that of the short LBH (1400 - 1500 ${\AA}$) when the characteristic energy of the precipitating electrons increased from 1 keV to > 7 keV, in accordance with the theoretical models. In this presentation, we would like to present the results of our study for new modeling results about previous report and even higher energy electrons. We selected the events in which the fluxes both in the low energy (100 eV ~ 20 keV) and in the high energy (170 ~ 360 keV) were enhanced, and examined the auroral spectra for these events observed simultaneously by the imaging spectrograph on the same spacecraft. While the accurate characteristic energy could not be determined because of the gap in the energy range, our result showed the intensity ratio of the long LBH to the short LBH ranged from 1.2 to 2.0 in these events, in contrast to 1.0 or smaller for the events in which the highest enhancement was seen only in the low energy. Our study suggests that intense auroras might be accompanied by high energy electrons above 20 keV.

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TRIO (Triplet Ionospheric Observatory) CINEMA

  • Lee, Dong-Hun;Seon, Jong-Ho;Jin, Ho;Kim, Khan-Hyuk;Lee, Jae-Jin;Jeon, Sang-Min;Pak, Soo-Jong;Jang, Min-Hwan;Kim, Kap-Sung;Lin, R.P.;Parks, G.K.;Halekas, J.S.;Larson, D.E.;Eastwood, J.P.;Roelof, E.C.;Horbury, T.S.
    • Bulletin of the Korean Space Science Society
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    • 2009.10a
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    • pp.42.3-43
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    • 2009
  • Triplets of identical cubesats will be built to carry out the following scientific objectives: i) multi-observations of ionospheric ENA (Energetic Neutral Atom) imaging, ii) ionospheric signature of suprathermal electrons and ions associated with auroral acceleration as well as electron microbursts, and iii) complementary measurements of magnetic fields for particle data. Each satellite, a cubesat for ion, neutral, electron, and magnetic fields (CINEMA), is equipped with a suprathermal electron, ion, neutral (STEIN) instrument and a 3-axis magnetometer of magnetoresistive sensors. TRIO is developed by three institutes: i) two CINEMA by Kyung Hee University (KHU) under the WCU program, ii) one CINEMA by UC Berkeley under the NSF support, and iii) three magnetometers by Imperial College, respectively. Multi-spacecraft observations in the STEIN instruments will provide i) stereo ENA imaging with a wide angle in local times, which are sensitive to the evolution of ring current phase space distributions, ii) suprathermal electron measurements with narrow spacings, which reveal the differential signature of accelerated electrons driven by Alfven waves and/or double layer formation in the ionosphere between the acceleration region and the aurora, and iii) suprathermal ion precipitation when the storm-time ring current appears. In addition, multi-spacecraft magnetic field measurements in low earth orbits will allow the tracking of the phase fronts of ULF waves, FTEs, and quasi-periodic reconnection events between ground-based magnetometer data and upstream satellite data.

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