Rocket observations of ultraviolet and optical emissions in the dayside aurora

Observations of emissions extending from the extreme ultraviolet to the near-infrared region of the spectrum were obtained from a rocket payload flown from Cape Parry, N.W.T., Canada, during the CENTAUR campaign December 7, 1981. The flight, NASA 29.017CE (Terrier-Malemute), was launched near local magnetic noon during an electron-precipitation event in the dayside cleft region. Emission rates versus altitude and zenith angle were obtained for the principal atomic-oxygen emission features OI (989 Å), OI (1304 Å), OI (1356 Å), OI (6300 Å), OI (7774 Å), and OI (8446 Å), as well as HI (1216 Å) and OII (834 Å). Some data were also obtained for the [Formula: see text] (first negative) bands. The results suggest an emission layer peaked in the vicinity of 250 to 300 km. Temporal and spatial fluctuations were most pronounced at apogee and on the downleg portion of the flight. Emissions strongly affected by multiple scattering fluctuated less than optically thin emissions.In this paper, estimates of the input energy flux and characteristic energy are made based on the intensity of the OI (6300 Å) and OI (1356 Å) emissions and the altitude of the emission layer. A value of 0.3 to 0.4 erg/cm2∙s for the energy flux and a characteristic energy of approximately 200 eV are consistent with the observations (1 erg = 0.1 μJ).