Coexisting structures from high-and low-energy precipitation in fine-scale aurora

Abstract

High-resolution multimonochromatic measurements of auroral emissions have revealed the first optical evidence of coexisting small-scale auroral features resulting from separate high-and low-energy populations of precipitating electrons on the same field line. The features exhibit completely separate motion and morphology. From emission ratios and ion chemistry modeling, the average energy and energy flux of the precipitation is estimated. The high-energy precipitation is found to form large pulsating patches of 0.1 Hz with a 3 Hz modulation, and nonpulsating coexisting discrete auroral filaments. The low-energy precipitation is observed simultaneously on the same field line as discrete filaments with no pulsation. The simultaneous structures do not interact, and they drift with different speeds in different directions. We suggest that the high-and low-energy electron populations are accelerated by separate mechanisms, at different distances from Earth. The small-scale structures could be caused by local instabilities above the ionosphere.