Precipitating Electron Population Inversion from Auroral Optical Data during the MICA Rocket Launch
Abstract
The MICA (Magnetosphere-Ionosphere Coupling in the Alfvèn Resonator) sounding rocket was launched from Poker Flat, AK on Feb 19, 2012, into a series of discrete auroral arcs immediately following auroral breakup. We operated a set of ground-based optical imagers in support of the launch which captured the event, including more than an hour of auroral activity in the eventual rocket trajectory prior to launch at a variety of temporal (~1 second cadence to video frame rate) and spatial (all-sky to sub-kilometer) resolutions and in several spectral emission lines. Our imagers were located at Poker Flat, Fort Yukon, and Venetie AK (the last of which viewed the auroral conjugate of the rocket at magnetic zenith with sub-kilometer resolution) which allows a 3-dimensional reconstruction of certain auroral features from the optical data. We use this data, along with an electron transport model, to estimate the precipitating electron population and its effect on the background plasma to characterize the energy input prior to and during the rocket flight.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2012
- Bibcode:
- 2012AGUFMSA33A2192A
- Keywords:
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- 0310 ATMOSPHERIC COMPOSITION AND STRUCTURE / Airglow and aurora