Altitude Variations of the Peak Auroral Emissions within Auroral Structures

Abstract:

The MIRACLE network monitors auroral activity in the Fennoscandian sector of Europe. Network stations cover the range of 55° to 57° magnetic latitude North and span two hours in magnetic local time. Some of the MIRACLE network stations include digital all-sky cameras (ASC) with overlapping field-of-views located at the latitude aurora occurs. The ASCs in this network operate at three different wavelengths: 427.8 nm (blue line), 557.7 nm (green line) and 630.0 nm (red line). These wavelengths are selected using narrow band filters. The new ASC systems are based on electron multiplying CCDs (emCCD), which allow higher time and spatial resolutions. The peak auroral emission altitude is determined using two ASC images from a station pair. Different auroral events are used to evaluate the altitude variations of the peak auroral emissions within auroral structures and its evolution in time.