The electron and proton aurora as seen by IMAGE-FUV and FAST

Abstract

The Far Ultraviolet Instrument (FUV) on the IMAGE spacecraft observes the aurora in three different channels. One of them (SI12) is sensitive to the signal from precipitating protons, while the other two (WIC and SI13) observe auroral emissions which are not only excited by precipitating electrons, but also by protons. We examine a period when in-situ particle measurements by the FAST spacecraft were available simultaneously with global imaging with FUV. The measured electron and proton energy spectra are used to calculate the auroral brightness along the FAST orbit. The comparison with the FUV/IMAGe observations shows good quantitative agreement and demonstrates that under certain circumstances high proton fluxes may produce significant amounts of auroral FUV emission.