Ground magnetic field fluctuations associated with pulsating aurora

Abstract

A case study of an intense pulsating auroral event is presented where the large-scale (100-200 km) optical intensity variations are anticorrelated with fluctuations in the ground magnetometer data at a frequency of 0.1 Hz. The auroral event occurred over Poker Flat, Alaska, on 1 March 2012 and was imaged optically with several different fields of view and filters. The fluctuations in the magnetometer data were most prominent in the D component and had magnitudes of 1 to 5 nT. The auroral intensity variations had amplitudes of 200 to 400 R, comprising 25% to 50% of the total auroral luminosity at 427.8 nm. The direction of the magnetometer deflections is consistent with a south-to-north ionospheric current present when each pulsation is on, thus providing closure for the field-aligned currents associated with each of the pulsating patches.