IMAGE-FUV Global and Fast In-situ Observations of Electron and Proton Aurora

H. U. Frey, S. B. Mende, C. W. Carlson
Space Sciences Laboratory, University of California Berkeley, Berkeley, CA
94720

J.-C. Gerard, B. Hubert
University of Liege, Liege, Belgium B-4000

The IMAGE satellite is the first mission dedicated to remotely sensing the
plasma in the inner regions of Earth's magnetosphere.  The IMAGE Far
Ultra-Violet (FUV) instruments provide simultaneous views of the aurora with 
the Wideband Imaging Camera (WIC, N_2 LBH 140-170 nm region), the 
Spectrographic Imager SI12 channel (imaging proton precipitation induced 
Doppler shifted Lyman alpha), and the SI13 channel (imaging the 135.6 nm OI 
and underlying LBH lines).  The instrument operated almost continuously since 
early May 2000 and it monitors the location and intensity of the aurora on a 
global scale.

The instrument performance was validated by comparing the images with in-situ
particle data taken by the FAST satellite traversing the field of view of the
FUV instrument.  The FAST-FUV inter-comparisons provide the quantitative
response of the FUV instrument to auroral particle precipitation of energetic
electrons and protons. It furthermore allows for a better understanding of 
the localized in-situ measurements and their global context.

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Presented at the European Geophysical Society meeting, 
Nice, France, March 30, 2001