Comparison of Electromagnetic Field Signatures in Regions of Dispersive and Quasi-Static Electron Precipitation During the GREECE Sounding Rocket Flight

John W Bonnell1, Nathan Carruth1, Amanda Slagle2, Marilia Samara3, Robert Michell3, Guy Alan Grubbs II4, Keiichi Ogasawara5 and Jörg-Micha Jahn5, (1)University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, United States, (2)University of California, Berkeley, Space Sciences Laboratory, Berkeley, United States, (3)NASA Goddard Space Flight Center, Greenbelt, MD, United States, (4)Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, United States, (5)Southwest Research Institute, San Antonio, TX, United States
Abstract:
The NASA GREECE (Ground-to-Rocket Electrodynamics-Electrons Corelative Experiment) sounding rocket flew through two regions of electron precipitation associated with dynamic visual aurora on 03 Mar 2014. The first weaker precipitation region showed evidence of energy-time dispersion in the softer and weaker electron precipitation, while the later precipitation region showed evidence of quasi-static monoenergetic peaks in the somewhat harder precipitating electron spectra.

Comparisons between the observed electromagnetic (EM) field (quasi-DC) and wave properties (0.1-8 kHz) in the two precipitation regions will be shown, including: measured plasma density; estimated spectral densities of E and B; derived polarization, cross-spectral phase and coherence, and parallel Poynting flux.

The measured EM field parameters will be compared against extant models of static and dynamic coupling of the high- and low-altitude ionosphere in regions of active small-scale auroral features and precipitation to discriminate between viable models of the two sorts of auroral precipitation and acceleration.

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