Coordinated Observations of Plasma Sheet Ion Temperatures and Auroral Enhancements.

Abstract:

Magnetosphere – Ionosphere (MI) coupling plays an important role in Earth’s overall space environment. MI coupling influences ion dynamics in the plasma sheet, the evolution of ring current ions, and field aligned currents during storm time events. The coupling of these two regions makes it important to understand both as a whole, as well as individually. To understand this system, ion temperature fluctuations in the plasma sheet and aurora enhancements were examined, as well as their relationship to sub storm onsets and storm evolution. Using the TWINS ENA Imagers, ion temperature maps were generated, and the average plasma sheet ion temperature was calculated. Aurora enhancements are calculated from THEMIS All Sky Imagers. The timing of plasma sheet temperature fluctuation, aurora enhancements, and a variety of other parameters are compared using superposed epoch analysis.