Characteristics of Auroral Electron Precipitation at Geomagnetic Latitude 67° Over Tromsø
Habtamu W. Tesfaw, Ilkka Virtanen, Anita Aikio
Abstract
Abstract We use the EISCAT incoherent scatter radar data measured in years 2001–2021 to study statistical characteristics of 1–100 keV electron precipitation at 66.7° MLAT over Tromsø. Peak energies, auroral powers and number fluxes of precipitating electrons are derived from electron density altitude profiles measured along the geomagnetic field line during periods of no photoionization. The method allows us to include energetic 30–100 keV electrons, which are poorly covered in earlier satellite‐based studies. Locations of the radar within the auroral oval are determined using a model with the 1‐hr Hpo geomagnetic index as input. The average peak energy of precipitating electrons increases almost monotonically from evening (18 MLT) to morning hours (09 MLT). The 30–50 keV electrons dominate the energetic electron precipitation before 06 MLT, after which the 50–100 keV precipitation becomes dominant. Large auroral powers (>60 mWm −2 ) are observed in the 18–02 MLT sector in the main auroral oval. We obtain occurrence rate of electron precipitation in Tromsø by calculating the fraction of data points with auroral power larger than 2 mWm −2 . The occurrence rate peaks during the declining phases of solar cycles (sc), in 2002–2004 for sc23 and in 2015–2017 for sc24, caused by variations in geomagnetic activity. In addition, the occurrence rate has maxima during March and September, minimum in December to January, and it increases monotonically from evening to morning hours, reaching maximum at 05–06 MLT.