Morphologies of omega band auroras

Abstract We examined the morphological signatures of 315 omega band aurora events observed using the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorm ground-based all-sky imager network over a period of 8 years. We find that omega bands can be classified into the following three su...

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Main Authors: Natsuo Sato, Akira Sessai Yukimatu, Yoshimasa Tanaka, Tomoaki Hori
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: SpringerOpen 2017-08-01
Series:Earth, Planets and Space
Subjects:
Online Access:http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40623-017-0688-1
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author Natsuo Sato
Akira Sessai Yukimatu
Yoshimasa Tanaka
Tomoaki Hori
author_facet Natsuo Sato
Akira Sessai Yukimatu
Yoshimasa Tanaka
Tomoaki Hori
author_sort Natsuo Sato
collection DOAJ
description Abstract We examined the morphological signatures of 315 omega band aurora events observed using the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorm ground-based all-sky imager network over a period of 8 years. We find that omega bands can be classified into the following three subtypes: (1) classical (O-type) omega bands, (2) torch or tongue (T-type) omega bands, and (3) combinations of classical and torch or tongue (O/T-type) omega bands. The statistical results show that T-type bands occur the most frequently (45%), followed by O/T-type bands (35%) and O-type bands (18%). We also examined the morphologies of the omega bands during their formation, from the growth period to the declining period through the maximum period. Interestingly, the omega bands are not stable, but rather exhibit dynamic changes in shape, intensity, and motion. They grow from small-scale bumps (seeds) at the poleward boundary of preexisting east–west-aligned auroras, rather than via the rotation or shear motion of preexisting east–west-aligned auroras, and do not exhibit any shear motion during the periods of auroral activity growth. Furthermore, the auroral luminosity is observed to increase during the declining period, and the total time from the start of the growth period to the end of the declining period is found to be about 20 min. Such dynamical signatures may be important in determining the mechanism responsible for omega band formation.
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spelling doaj.art-621c2b95d26f44f18feb33319a7c96f42022-12-21T18:58:37ZengSpringerOpenEarth, Planets and Space1880-59812017-08-0169111110.1186/s40623-017-0688-1Morphologies of omega band aurorasNatsuo Sato0Akira Sessai Yukimatu1Yoshimasa Tanaka2Tomoaki Hori3National Institute of Polar ResearchNational Institute of Polar ResearchNational Institute of Polar ResearchInstitute for Space-Earth Environmental Research, Nagoya UniversityAbstract We examined the morphological signatures of 315 omega band aurora events observed using the Time History of Events and Macroscale Interactions during Substorm ground-based all-sky imager network over a period of 8 years. We find that omega bands can be classified into the following three subtypes: (1) classical (O-type) omega bands, (2) torch or tongue (T-type) omega bands, and (3) combinations of classical and torch or tongue (O/T-type) omega bands. The statistical results show that T-type bands occur the most frequently (45%), followed by O/T-type bands (35%) and O-type bands (18%). We also examined the morphologies of the omega bands during their formation, from the growth period to the declining period through the maximum period. Interestingly, the omega bands are not stable, but rather exhibit dynamic changes in shape, intensity, and motion. They grow from small-scale bumps (seeds) at the poleward boundary of preexisting east–west-aligned auroras, rather than via the rotation or shear motion of preexisting east–west-aligned auroras, and do not exhibit any shear motion during the periods of auroral activity growth. Furthermore, the auroral luminosity is observed to increase during the declining period, and the total time from the start of the growth period to the end of the declining period is found to be about 20 min. Such dynamical signatures may be important in determining the mechanism responsible for omega band formation.http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40623-017-0688-1Omega band auroraTorch auroraTongue auroraPulsating auroraAll-sky imagerTHEMIS
spellingShingle Natsuo Sato
Akira Sessai Yukimatu
Yoshimasa Tanaka
Tomoaki Hori
Morphologies of omega band auroras
Earth, Planets and Space
Omega band aurora
Torch aurora
Tongue aurora
Pulsating aurora
All-sky imager
THEMIS
title Morphologies of omega band auroras
title_full Morphologies of omega band auroras
title_fullStr Morphologies of omega band auroras
title_full_unstemmed Morphologies of omega band auroras
title_short Morphologies of omega band auroras
title_sort morphologies of omega band auroras
topic Omega band aurora
Torch aurora
Tongue aurora
Pulsating aurora
All-sky imager
THEMIS
url http://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s40623-017-0688-1
work_keys_str_mv AT natsuosato morphologiesofomegabandauroras
AT akirasessaiyukimatu morphologiesofomegabandauroras
AT yoshimasatanaka morphologiesofomegabandauroras
AT tomoakihori morphologiesofomegabandauroras