Possible New Dayside Auroral Signature of High Latitude Magnetic Reconnection

Dayside ionospheric signatures of magnetic reconnection have shown auroral arcs drifting poleward during southward/northward interplanetary magnetic field (IMF) conditions, i.e. Poleward-Moving Auroral Forms (PMAFs). The PMAFs are observed around local magnetic noon. This study presents a number of previously unreported auroral features that form during northward IMF conditions. The x- and y-components of the IMF are negative. Crescent auroral arcs form on the western edge of the all-sky camera and begin to drift eastward before fading from view. A few of these eastward moving auroral forms re-brighten as they move towards the east. The auroral images were captured by the BACC All-sky camera at the Kjell Henriksen Observatory, located in Longyearbyen, Svalbard.