Extreme Heating of the Upper Atmosphere by Aurora

Lead Research Organisation: University of Southampton
Department Name: Sch of Ocean and Earth Science

Abstract

The flow of the solar wind past Earth transfers a significant amount of energy into the upper atmosphere via electric currents and auroral particle precipitation. Part of the energy is visible as aurora, but most ends up as heat. This heating is currently poorly quantified and poorly understood, but has important impacts such as atmospheric expansion and complex influences on the lower atmosphere which are important for climate forecasting. Large-scale measurements of the average electric field lead to a significant underestimate of the total heating and even greater underestimate of the peak heating. This project will use measurements of the aurora and ionosphere made by new state-of-the-art instruments at much higher resolution than previous measurements. The spatial variation in the electric field around aurora will be investigated and compared with images of the neutral temperature. The findings will advance theories for auroral electrodynamics and the associated heating of the atmosphere.

Publications

10 25 50

Studentship Projects

Project Reference Relationship Related To Start End Student Name
NE/S007210/1 30/09/2019 29/09/2028
2921210 Studentship NE/S007210/1 22/09/2024 22/09/2028 Kate Barton