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The Diffuse Auroral Eraser
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  • Riley N Troyer,
  • Allison N Jaynes,
  • Sarah L Jones,
  • David J. Knudsen,
  • Trond Steinar Trondsen
Riley N Troyer
University of Iowa

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Allison N Jaynes
University of Iowa
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Sarah L Jones
Goddard Space Flight Center (NASA)
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David J. Knudsen
University of Calgary
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Trond Steinar Trondsen
University of Calgary
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Abstract

The source of diffuse aurora has been widely studied and linked to electron cyclotron harmonic (ECH) and upper-band chorus (UBC) waves. It is known that these waves scatter 100s of eV to 10s of keV electrons from the plasma sheet, but the relative contribution of each wave type is still an open question. In this paper, we report on a new structured diffuse aurora feature observed on March 15, 2002 that could help further our understanding. This feature is characterized by four phases: (1) the initial phase exhibiting regular diffuse aurora, (2) the brightening phase, where a stripe of diffuse aurora rapidly brightens, (3) the eraser phase, where the stripe dims to below its initial state, and (4) the recovery phase, where the diffuse aurora returns to its original brightness. Using a superposed epoch analysis of 22 events, we calculate the average recovery phase time to be 20 seconds, although this varies widely between events. We hypothesize that the process responsible for these auroral eraser events could be an interaction between ECH and chorus waves.
Mar 2021Published in Journal of Geophysical Research: Space Physics volume 126 issue 3. 10.1029/2020JA028805