The increase in OH rotational temperature during an active aurora event

Abstract

OH rotational temperatures have been observed at the Syowa Station, Antarctica (69° S, 39° E), which is located in the middle of the auroral zone and has a high-sensitivity spectrometer for the spectral region of the OH 8-4 band. A dataset of 153 nights was acquired during the 2008 austral winter season. Of the 153 nights, the weather and aurora conditions were only suitable on 6 nights to study the relationship between auroral activity and OH airglow variation. Of these 6 nights, a significant increase in the rotational temperature and a decrease in the intensity related to an aurora activity were identified on the night of 27/28 March 2008, but no such variations were seen during the other nights. The horizontal magnetic field disturbance on the night of 27/28 March was the largest of that winter, while the cosmic radio noise absorption was also very strong. These facts indicate that, compared with the other nights, a large flux of high-energy auroral particles precipitated during the night. It is suggested that the observed variations in the OH rotational temperature and airglow intensity were caused by a lowering of the average airglow height as a result of OH depletion in the upper part of the layer where high-energy auroral particles can reach. © Author(s) 2010.