The Brightening History of Poleward-Moving Auroral Forms

• Main Authors: Brandt, Taylor G, Fasel, Gerard, Rothballer, Ashley, Fox, Ben, Booth, Alex, Gribble, Michael, Nam, Connor, Grittner, Paige, Chibwe, Kaseba, Harper, Emma, Joubert, Jacques, Cook, David, Kim, Uni, Lockwood, Rachel, Raeth, Simone, Lammerding, Charles, Riley, Josh, Golla, Ashley, Sigernes, Fred, Lorentzen, Dag A, Mills, Juliet, Frizzelle, Karin
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Pepperdine Digital Commons 2017
• Subjects: Poleward; Moving; Auroral; Forms; PMAF; PMAFs; Brightening; Bz; IMF; Other Physics; Longyearbyen
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/scursas/2017/posters/24; https://digitalcommons.pepperdine.edu/context/scursas/article/1317/type/native/viewcontent

Poleward-Moving Auroral Forms (PMAFs) are believed to be the ionospheric footprints of magnetic flux tubes resulting from reconnection occurring at the dayside magnetopause. PMAFs initially brighten on the poleward edge of the auroral oval. After the initial brightening the PMAF begins to move poleward. The PMAF may re-brighten during its poleward motion. This study looks at the brightening history of the PMAF during its poleward motion. When the PMAF re-brightens the brightening occurs at a point on the auroral arc. This re-brightening occurs either on the westward or eastward side of the auroral arc. The brightening then spreads eastward if the re-brightening occurs on the westward portion of the arc or westward if the re-brightening occurs on the eastward portion of the arc. This brightening pattern is generally uniform for any particular day. The optical ground-based data was obtained from the Kjell Henriksen Observatory in Longyearbyen. Over 55 PMAFs were included in this study.