Auroral Activity on May 15, 1997

Sunlit Aurora

Here is an example of sunlit aurora - not a period of extreme activity, just your every day typical aurora. We study this period since there were several NOAA-TIROS satellites in a favourable orbit for comparision between data from different sources.

Raw Data (May 15, 1997)

These images are raw UVI images, not calibrated and not transformed into geographic coordinate systems. One image every 5 minutes (approximately) is shown to give a general overview of the auroral activity.

Summary plots from 15 May with one sample image about every 5 minutes (LBH-long filter)

00:01-02:04 UT	07:33-09:36 UT	09:40-11:40 UT

11:43-14:22 UT	14:27-17:09 UT	17:12-19:15 UT

Processing of the image data is not yet completed. Due to the limited field of view, only a part of the auroal oval is in sight for much of the time. We have generated energy flux maps from the images, showing precipitation on the dayside near noon 07:34-07:58 UT, 08:01-08:26 UT, and early evening 08:29-08:54 UT, 08:57-09:21 UT, and as the POLAR satellite rises towards its apogee the night side of the auroral oval comes into view as well 12:45-14:33 UT.

Last updated: 24 November 1997

Questions? Comments? Or would you like to add to this study?
Please send E-mail to Dirk Lummerzheim lumm@gi.alaska.edu