Theoretical Study of Interhemispheric Electron Bouncing Within Pulsating Aurora

Abstract

Abstract Wave‐particle interaction processes in the equatorial magnetosphere initiate time‐dependent electron precipitation in the pulsating aurora. These electrons enter loss‐cone and bounce between the two magnetically conjugate hemispheres, collide with the atmospheric constituents, and introduce additional time scales in electron precipitation dynamics. In this letter we present preliminary results of pulsating aurora formation using the time‐dependent SuperThermal Electron Transport code, which considers the magnetosphere‐ionosphere‐atmosphere energy coupling between the two magnetically conjugate regions and discuss their contribution to the peculiarities of electron distribution function formation within the pulsating aurora.

Keywords

• pulsating aurora
• magnetosphere‐ionosphere coupling
• electron precipitation